


Backroads and Bad Jokes

by Absent_Enigma



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Additional tags to add soon, Alternate Universe - Road Trip, But It Goes Wrong, Developing Relationship, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Gen, Horrortale Papyrus (Undertale), Horrortale Sans (Undertale), Hurt/Comfort, Multi, Oh also both 2nd and 3rd POV, Other, Prejudice Against Monsters (Undertale), So there will be some angst and violence, Trust Issues, Undertale Monsters on the Surface, recovery fic but with traumas dragged back up mid-fic, these two need all the hugs and comfort
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-15
Updated: 2021-03-14
Packaged: 2021-03-18 07:40:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 25
Words: 45,835
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28739643
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Absent_Enigma/pseuds/Absent_Enigma
Summary: Driving an RV cross country to avoid interacting with the populace at large is something you’d done for three years and counting. Your dreary outlook on life begins to change when you gain two battered hitchhikers in the form of two skeleton monsters.Monsters who were supposed to have died out or vanished years ago. You begin to learn there is a reason for that, when your passengers slowly begin to open up to you.
Relationships: Papyrus (Horrortale) & Reader, Sans (Horrortale)/Reader
Comments: 166
Kudos: 405





	1. Wanderer

**Author's Note:**

> I needed a mental break from plotting out and editing the other fics, so I’ve decided to do another prompt-based fic with words I chose, where I can just write and not think too deeply about plot points (prompts will be the chapter title).
> 
> Each chapter will be 500–1500 words (there is potential for some chapters to be longer).

This wasn’t precisely how you saw your life going.

Three years on the road and you still weren’t ready to go back to a normal life or routine. Traveling in an RV and living off your savings would still work for a few more years, until you made up your mind. Working online running a blog for little pay helped break up boredom of living alone. Buying groceries or other life necessities was the most contact with people you were willing to have at this point in time.

Unfortunately, you did have to go get gas more often for your gas guzzling transportation, but hey, you did what you needed to do to keep to yourself.

So, another gas station was exactly where you were right now. And, as luck would have it, the employee helping you pay for the gas was up for idle chatter.

“Hey, you hear the news?”

At the expectant look, you offered a dismissive shrug. You had a TV but you hadn’t watched it lately apart from old reruns of movies.

“There was a sighting yesterday.” The employee’s voice went low, hushed. “Of monsters. So you better keep an eye out, if they’re starting to come out of hiding.”

You gave some noncommittal jerk of your head to acknowledge the other person’s words. It was likely just more wild speculation, since no monsters had actually been sighted for at least five years.

Which was all humanity’s fault.

Leaving the gas station, you went straight back to your RV. Stepping inside, you closed the door behind you.

A trip for groceries was going onto your to-do list, since you weren’t paying for pricy gas station prices. You’d save that dollar plus on creamer, thanks.

With a sigh, your thoughts drifted to monsters as you dropped onto the couch across from the small kitchen area, avoiding hitting the mid-sized coffee table.

Humanity was stupid, especially when it had come to monsters.

You knew the history of monsters.

At least the part where they appeared and what followed the next ten years.

Everyone did.

You’d been in an apartment at the time when you heard about their emergence from beneath Mt. Ebott.

There had been excitement and fear equally, and everything seemed to be going well with negation films between world governments and the king of monsters and his young human ambassador. Then, Five years following an attempted assassination of the king, his close associates and the human ambassador, all monsters were either dead or in hiding. There were still debates ongoing, even now, about whether or not the assassination had actually been successful. 

But now, monsters were hardly ever mentioned, apart from whispers of rare sightings, or trash talk about how the monsters hadn’t even tried to put up a fight to get humans in favor of helping them. You couldn’t help but want to point out that attempting to assassinate the king of monsters (and perhaps succeeding) likely led to all monsters not believing that it was worth it to deal with humans any longer.

Sitting up, you stretched and headed to the front of the RV, and started it up. Carefully navigating the small gas station lot back onto the road, you eased into the drive as you entered the highway.

It was getting late, and you needed to find a spot to park your RV for the night. You were already anticipating a long drive to the nearest nature preserve to camp out for a few weeks or so, before moving on.

Supplies won out over sleep, however, so you parked in a large grocery parking lot. You dreaded having to be around people, and sighed inwardly as you were subjected to more talk about monster sightings, as well as crass jokes and warnings over how no one should get caught caught alone with a monster or they’d eat you. You were glad to leave the store, laden with a few bags held in either hand. 

As you put the groceries into the fridge in your small kitchen area, you couldn’t help but feel bad for the elusive beings that had come out of the mountain a decade ago.

Five years of tentative cooperation, ruined by one instance of human hatred and prejudice.

You yourself hadn’t thought monsters seemed very dangerous. But apparently seeing actual real proof of magic had prompted worldwide panic in the years that followed the appearance of monsters.

People were so stupid.

Humans and monsters could have worked with each other and pooled their technologies together. From what you had learned, monster tech had been very advanced, despite living under a mountain, and in most ways, surpassed some human tech.

You personally would have loved one of those dimensional boxes, and even though it likely would have become cluttered, at least the clutter wouldn’t be all over your RV.

When you resumed driving, you paid very close attention, aware of where you were in the road compared to other drivers. Driving in the dark wasn’t your most favorite thing to do, but you needed to reach the spot you had reserved. You sure hoped it was as secluded as it looked when you’d done research on the area. 

Space and alone time was something you appreciated, ever since you’d let slip three years ago that you were sympathetic to what had happened to the monsters.

What terrible backlash you’d received, just for being honest.

It was lucky that you had so much in your bank’s savings account that you could drop your life back then and start a new one. A life that involved driving from place to place on the road, keeping away from judgmental people.

That situation you’d been in had been unpleasant.

You even had some scars to prove that humans were worse than monsters. Over the course of the past three years, if someone happened to recognize you (all because of that one asshole who posted your pic all over the internet), most people immediately dismissed or ignored you for caring about what happened to the monsters. There others who ridiculed you, refusing to let you purchase from them, and some people even attacked, snidely claiming that they thought a monster would come save you, since you seemed to care about them so much.

You hadn’t lived in one place for three years and driving cross-county in a 45 foot long RV helped mitigate the shitty attitude people had when someone stated an opinion that wasn’t in line with their own. 

Drawn from unpleasant memories by the flashing lights of the police cars, you slowed down to see what was going on. The police were diverting what little traffic there was, due to what you assumed was a crash further along the road. You went with it because you didn’t see the point in arguing that you’d been on the road for hours and just wanted to park and sleep half a day. 

It may have been luck, going down a different route, but you got to finally see what everyone had been whispering about today.

A few miles, trying to get back on track, you caught movement on the side of the road. Slowing your RV, in case some animal came darting across the road, you took a closer look. 

Wait...

That couldn’t be possible.

You brought the RV to a halt the rest of the way as quickly as you could, with how big the vehicle was. But even that had been an automatic response, with your mind a whirl with surprise. You couldn’t believe your eyes, especially not in the dark with only headlights but...

Had that been...a monster you’d seen?


	2. Monster

Cautiously putting the RV into park, you got up and peered out the side door. You froze up at what you saw approaching your vehicle.

A huge skeleton monster, who had to have topped 7 feet, cautiously moved closer to the RV. The monster looked utterly exhausted, wearing with a tattered red scarf around his neck, a torn red sweater and jeans, and mud-covered red boots. The skeleton’s teeth were cracked and crooked,’ as if they had been broken at times and had regrown, only to crack again.

The monster appeared...hopeful yet wary.

You noticed, as the tall monster hesitantly drew nearer to your still-closed door, that they were holding someone else in their arms.

Right outside the door, and you could hear the rattling of bones as the tall skeleton clutched another, smaller skeleton to their chest. And since the monster was literal feet away from you, you could see actual tears tracking down cheekbones from the small, dark eye sockets.

“Please help.” The monster’s voice was desperate, yet strained, as if expecting hostility. “My brother...”

You looked closer at the smaller skeleton and winced. The monster looked battered to all hell, the worst of which was a large crack to the left side of the skull, leaving a gaping hole. He wore a faded blue hoodie with a worn fluffy grey-white hood, mud-splattered track pants and stained pink slippers. You look out your wide front windshield, and then waved a hand to indicate that the monster should stand back while you opened the side door. Keeping a wary eye on the big monster, you took a quick look around the surrounding area.

No one else was there.

No one to see the monsters and kick up a fuss.

You made a decision then and there.  


Years ago, you’d promised yourself that it you ever met a monster, you would give them a chance.  


It was more than you’d do for a fellow human.

“I don’t know if the police are still in the area.” Going back into the RV, you left the door open behind you, and turned to face the monster, your voice still a bare whisper from lack of use. “Get in and stay low. I’ll draw the blinds on the windows.”

The monster jerked up to his full height, looking at you wordlessly for a moment, as if not sure he heard you properly. Then your words seemed to sink in, and the monster’s tears increased, falling freely as he stumbled forward and up the steps into the RV. The skeleton ducked, as if expecting to hit his head, and collapsed further back, toward where the beds were kept. The monster turned onto his side and hugged his brother close.

The hug must have been quite snug, as the smaller monster issued out a faint, distressed noise before he quieted as the pressure of the hug lessened.

Apparently, the rumors you’d heard today about  monsters sightings were true.  It would follow that these rumors were about the two monsters you now had in your RV.

The RV you intended to continue to drive to a nature preserve to get away from the world. Pretty much anyone else would have gladly taken the monsters and turned them in immediately to the police.

You wouldn’t.

After carefully skirting around the monsters to close most of the window blinds, you then put the RV back into drive.There was a sense of doing some good as you drove onwards. You felt determined to continue on through the night until you reached your destination.

Earnest, if quiet sobbing could be heard from the conscious monster as he mumbled broken words of thanks for letting them onto your moving mobile home.

The sooner you got to the place to park your RV, the sooner you could take a good look at your two unexpected passengers.

All things considered, you were taking this unexpected situation well.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was going to go with classic Sans and Papyrus for this fic, but I didn’t want horrortale Papyrus and Sans to end up in another fic idea where they’re in some abandoned building because that seemed too cliche.


	3. Fragile

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Papyrus 3rd POV for this chapter.  
> Addtnl tags: eating animals in the wild, implied injuries caused by traps intentionally set, vague indication of what happened to humans in horrortale underground, general angst and sadness about situation.

Papyrus couldn’t believe his luck.

After traveling for so long through dense forested area, avoiding contact with humans in this new, rather frightening surface world, there was finally peaceful contact. Papyrus hoped this meant that he wouldn’t have to catch small animals for food anymore, even if he had used traps built by hand that he was quite proud of. The traps he had laid were even better but apparently, humans getting caught in them caused some anger and a distressing amount of swearing and threats.

Papyrus couldn’t understand why the humans acted in that manner. 

If someone approached his and Sans’ temporary resting place, shouldn’t one anticipate it being defended? Really, humans had no appreciation for a well-placed trap or an expertly crafted puzzle.

If only Undyne could have seen-

Papyrus sucked in a breath and let it out, free hand reaching up to tangle fingers into his scarf.

Don’t think about what happened.

Don’t think about her.

Not right now.

Papyrus had his hands full looking after Sans after the...incident, back in the underground, and now here, on the surface. He had to take care of Sans even more. Especially after Sans had fallen ill in some unknown way once they were on the surface. Maybe even right before. Papyrus always knew deep down that Sans’ HoPe was dropping down with every passing day. Papyrus hoped that being on the surface, but in a calm environment, would help Sans recuperate.

Maybe.

Seeing the large vehicle on the road, Papyrus had grit his mismatched teeth and showed himself. It was a relief that the human driving had slowed down and stopped. 

This was the break that Papyrus and his brother desperately needed. Any longer out in the wild, and they might have been caught. And if prey had been more scarce, they might have had to fall back into old ways. Or worse, Papyrus wouldn’t be able to find help for Sans and his brother might have ended up Falling Down.

If that had happened...

Papyrus closed his sockets tight, tears continuing to fall as he lightly pressed his face against Sans’ ratty hood.

He shouldn’t think about that.

Sans was okay. He’d be fine, despite the fact that Sans cared less and less about the world around him every passing day. 

Except for Papyrus. He seemed to be the only thing that kept Sans going. That Sans would wake up most days just to make sure that his younger brother was all right, and that Papyrus had been eating and taking care of himself.

If only Sans would put in a little effort and care for himself.

Papyrus believed in him. Papyrus knew that Sans could pull through and show a little of who he used to be, if given the chance to be allowed to recuperate in a safe place. 

And so, with interest in helping Sans, Papyrus took the big step to show himself to a human (even with Sans unconscious). It was a risk that Papyrus had been willing to take. They needed help, no matter what Sans had said over the past two years. No matter what they both had seen of the humans who’d come after them. There had been an incident of being hounded for the past two weeks by human authority figures and rude hooligans who shot at him with odd-looking bullet patterns. But even that didn’t didn’t shake Papyrus belief that there was still good in the humans that lived on the surface world.

There had been good in Frisk.

There might have been good in the other humans who’d fallen, had they been given a chance before they were...

Papyrus gave his head a little shake.

Don’t think about that.

The point was that Papyrus was quite confident that he could find good in another human.

Someone to trust.

Perhaps someone that he, the great Papyrus, could be friends with?

Papyrus felt finding this human with the large vehicle that held a tiny home inside was a step in the right direction. This particular human’s soul hadn’t held any judgment or hate when they caught sight of Papyrus and his brother on the side of the road.

Trepidition, certainly.

But there had also been curiosity and a wave of sympathy.

Had Papyrus felt any bad intent from the human, he never would have shown himself or his now-unconscious brother. There was no hate that Papyrus could sense from where he lie on the floor of the vehicle. No anger or ill intent from the human. They were silent, paying attention to the road as the human took this rather inconveniently shaped, bulky vehicle to whatever destination they had in mind.

So long as the human wasn’t going to a crowded place, it should be all right.

It was quite nice to be off off his feet, in any case.

Papyrus didn’t think he’d be able to fully relax and rest quite yet, but it was nice to not have to be fully on alert. This was certainly a big step in the correct direction for proving to gained and Sans that a human wasn’t going to harm them when put in a vulnerable, enclosed situation. 

The human was also unwittingly putting a lot of trust in Papyrus and Sans to not give in to any...urges, that might crop up from certain conditions of the underground they’d been subjected to in order to survive.

Papyrus kept his eyes closed as he grimaced.

Well, they didn’t have to trap humans any longer due to scarcity of food in the underground. Papyrus didn’t feel confident enough to speak to those unpleasant memories of the underground to explain why he or Sans might give a human unnerving, opaque stares. 

It could be explained away, for now.

Papyrus longed to taste gourmet meals now that he and Sans were on the surface. Not eating wild animals because Papyrus and Sans’ appearance was too frightening to be allowed to go into one of those convenience stores to purchase food.

What had Papyrus hoarded all their gold for, if not to use it to purchase goods?

Something draped over him and Sans.

The vehicle had come to a stop at some point during his musings, and Papyrus heard the human speak in that same whisper as before.

”I’m a few miles out from my stop but it looked like you could use a blanket down there. If you’d like, get some rest? I can make some breakfast in the morning.”

Fresh tears came, and Papyrus curled his large frame up beneath the blanket, tugging it to cover his brother. Kindness was such a foreign concept after going so long without it. 

Footsteps went back to the front of the vehicle.

Rest.

Papyrus would chance a brief nap. He needed to be alert for when Sans inevitably woke up, and saw where they were. Already Papyrus had noticed his brother stirring, before being drawn back to slumber beneath a warm blanket.

Sans always had been a lazybones, even before his terrible, life-changing injury.

Papyrus might have known Sans’ reaction to a situation in the past, but with the gaping hole in his brother’s skull, he wasn’t as certain what might happen any longer.

Oh dear.

This really wasn’t the most ideal setting for a meeting with his brother, what with it being close quarters and nowhere to run if the the vehicle was in motion. At the very least, Papyrus would make sure to confiscate his brother’s cleaver, to minimize any risks. It would be in poor taste and very rude to injure this human, who appeared genuinely nice at first Check. 

All Papyrus had to do was convince his brother of this. He could already feel a headache coming on, a fondness mixed with exasperation over knowing the terrible puns to come if Sans was in a good mood.

Papyrus really hoped that his decision to seek out help wouldn’t end in unintentional bloodshed.


	4. Tense

When asked in the past if you would survive a horror movie, you’d said you didn’t know. The reason being that you wouldn’t put yourself in that kind of situation to begin with if you could help it. But when pressed for elaboration, you’d basically said if you were unwillingly dragged into a horror-esque situation, you might not have the tools or ability to survive without forewarning and a whole lot of planning.

Driving an RV cross county and parking it for weeks to months at a time in very horror-like environments?

You’d mostly tuned out the idea in order to be able to sleep.

It was pure dumb luck that you weren’t re-enacting being murdered a serial killer in a horror movie by the time you’d parked in the nature preserve at 3 in the morning.

The smaller monster was now awake, and had managed to take a swing at you with a cleaver, all without making a single sound.

That was terrifying shit right there.

It was lucky that the larger monster seemed interested in your continued survival, as he had his arms immediately wrapped around the other monster, preventing the attack from being finished.

“Sans, now is not the time for a murder spree.”

The smaller monster, Sans, apparently, wore a tight rictus grin, his teeth unnervingly bared wide, completely devoid of emotion. And instead of empty sockets like before, the left one was glaringly red. A huge glow that took up nearly the entire socket, with a tiny hint of black in the middle to make it look like the monster had a pupil.

”...what, you don’t wanna head-dog?” 

Wow, that was a deep voice.

You didn’t expect that at all. It was slow and steady too, with some hesitation, as if Sans had to think about what he was saying before he said it.

“...that a yes?” Sans teeth tugged into an even wider grin at the edges. He blinked slowly, grin ticking up at the sides as he glanced up at his brother. “...you want one, paps?”

“Not when there are humans involved. I have heard there hot dogs on the surface that are made in a processed manner, and are the only ‘dogs we should eat now.” The big skeleton monster glanced at you with an apologetic smile. “Terribly sorry about my brother’s behavior. He isn’t quite right in the head. Skull?” The monster frowned. “Ah, and my name is Papyrus. Sans just uses nicknames for me, usually. Too lazy to use my full name most days.”

Sans twisted in Papyrus grasp before seeming to come to the conclusion that he wasn’t getting free any time soon. So Sans settled for staring at you in a disturbing manner, the red glow of his eye light flickering in his socket.

“He usually knows better than to try and lop someone’s head off.” Papyrus continued on breezily. “Traps and puzzles are much fairer than a weapon.”

What.

You were beginning to reassess your decision of letting these monsters into your RV without more information. You could blame it on lack of sleep, but you knew you’d allowed it because of that promise to yourself to give monsters a chance if you ever met any. So that was what you were going to do.

”Sans, this nice human let us come into their vehicular home, so please don’t try to murder them in their sleep for their goodwill.” Papyrus still hadn’t let go of Sans. “What do you say to them?”

”...nice to _meat_ you.” The smaller monster said in that same low, low voice.

A pun?

And a rather tasteless one at that.

You snorted at the thought, drawing a raised brow from Papyrus, and silence with a creepily intense stare from Sans. You reassessed the monsters before you, and came to a conclusion.

It wasn’t that Sans was small, it was that Papyrus was a giant in comparison.

You could see him mostly standing upright now, instead of hunched over like before. He had to have been closer to 8 or 8 and a half feet tall, putting Sans at around 6 feet, maybe a few inches more, tall. So you supposed that Sans just looked smaller than Papyrus, but it didn’t change the fact that they were both much bigger than you. Even Papyrus’ rolled up sleeves showed that his forearms were bigger than yours.

A tense silence followed, before you suggested something of a peace offering.

”Would you like some breakfast? I could make bacon and eggs with toast.”

“A human breakfast?” Papyrus perked up at the idea, his grasp loosening around Sans. “I’ve been wanting to try to make something you humans would eat in the morning, to see if it compares to the delicacy that is spaghetti!”

Sans’ left socket narrowed at you in suspicion.

“It’s an egg-cellent meal.” You tossed out.

Those words had mixed results.

“Sans!” Papyrus let go of his brother completely to gesture wildly. “You have not been conscious for more than a handful of minutes and yet you have already corrupted the human with your puns.”

”...not beat-ing around the bush.” Sans said, after letting Papyrus vent, hands in his pockets. “...no egging me on?”

“No! Not so early in the morning!” Papyrus let out an incensed noise and barely managed to not stomp his foot heavily against the floor. “I refuse to be subjected to shenanigans when there is breakfast to be made.” Papyrus faced you, a plea in those small sockets and a strained smile with splintered teeth. 

“Let’s go make breakfast then.” You took a few steps to Papyrus’ left and opened the fridge. You didn’t notice the way Papyrus gently gripped the back of Sans’ hood to keep him from stepping toward you. You did hear a brief back and forth between the two brothers as you got out food and pans.

”Isn’t this place quaint, brother? Nice and quiet and most definitely not a place for violence.”

”...sure.”

”That non-answer does not fill me with confidence, Sans. I know that look of yours and I am here to inform you right this moment that I will not condone any fighting, or homicide, in this place.”

“...sure.”

”I see that smile. Do not try and reclaim your cleaver while I am not looking.”

“...sure, bro. wouldn’t dream of it.”

”Doubtful, but I will take your word for it. For now.”

”...what was that?”

Papyrus groaned out an exasperated sigh while Sans let out a slow chuckle.

As you focused on making breakfast, with some help from Papyrus, who seemed excited, you wondered about Sans’ intentions toward you. He was still staring at you, though he had moved over to the couch to comfortably splay out on it, glowing red eye fixed on you. When the food was done, and Papyrus was enthusiastically, if carefully, eating the food through broken teeth, you brought a plate over to Sans and offered it to him.

The monster stared at you for a long time without blinking before his blank expression changed into one of wariness and something else you couldn’t discern.

Sans sat up and reached out for the plate.

When he took it, it gave you a good view of the sharp phalanges and cracks in the bones of his fingers.

Quietly, Sans popped a piece of bacon past teeth that parted, showing off some fangs that didn’t show from the wide grin of before. Sans’ single eye light flared, the monster eating the food down rapidly until there was nothing left, and even then, a blue tongue slipped out past teeth to lick the plate clean. Sans caught you watching him, and he hesitated, before setting the plate on the coffee table in front of him, skull turning to avoid your gaze. A hand went up to absently scratch at the hole in his skull.

As Papyrus gushed over the new flavors he got to try, you wondered just how concerned you should be about Sans. You were willing to give these monsters a chance, but there was part of you that worried over Sans attempting to murder you in your sleep.

Sans sat perched on the edge of couch, perfectly still and unblinking as he went back to staring at you with burning intensity.


	5. Calm

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I appear to have opened a floodgate on this fic while writing. I’m glad you guys are liking it so far. I'm gonna keep working on it, because it is so nice to just be able to type again without getting stuck.

With vibrant yet weary cheer, Papyrus ushered his brother out of the RV as you put away the dishes that Papyrus had insisted on cleaning himself. 

“You look exhausted, human. You should get some sleep.” Papyrus held a hand firmly around one of Sans’ upper arms. “We can keep an eye out, so you don’t have to worry about shady characters approaching your home while we are with you!” Papyrus waved his free hand. “I look forward to exploring the perimeters of this area!”

You were very worn out, and if the monsters were occupied in a quiet place out of sight of other humans, then it was fine to get some rest, right?

”Oh, and human? Lock the door, please.” Papyrus said brightly. “It wouldn’t do to let anyone walk into your home while you are asleep.” With a beaming smile of crooked teeth, Papyrus walked off, hauling his brother along by the arm.

Sans went along willing let enough, but you felt an involuntary shudder when his skull tilted back, his eye light zeroed in on you before he looked away, laughing softly at something Papyrus said.

You locked the door to the RV.

It wouldn’t do to tempt fate, and besides, Papyrus could knock on the door when the two monsters were done...surveying the area?

Yawning, you shuffled toward the back of the RV, and collapsed onto one of the twin beds, not bothering to convert it to a king size. There were thoughts that you might not want to be unconscious with unfamiliar monsters nearby, who were supposed to have died off or vanished years ago. But as you closed your eyes, you quickly dropped off to sleep.

There was a displacement of there and not there in the RV, but it went unnoticed.

You slept on, heavily asleep for the first time in a long while.

Rarely did you have vivid nightmares, apart from when you’d foolishly watched that one old movie as a child. That wolf had been more terrifying than it had any right to be as an animatronic puppet. It was those uncanny motions paired with the voice and creepy green eyes. Maybe that had something to do with a glowing red eye making an unsettling appearance in your dreams. Your sleep became restless, with too-real sensations pushing you closer to waking up.

It was the feeling of your hair being inspected by gentle fingertips, cautious in their petting. The other, more disturbing thing was the way you could have sworn there was a puff of breath against your face, followed by that same feather light touch of rough, cool fngertips tracing your cheek...

A loud forceful bang of a knock sounded on the RV’s door brought you fully awake.

There was a split second where you could have sworn that Sans was looming over you at the side of your bed. But between one blink and the next, you found that you were all alone.

Another couple of knocks rang out in rapid succession.

You groaned and rolled out of bed, yawning as you shuffled to the door, where you saw Papyrus peering in with a worried pinch between his brow bones.

When he saw you, his large frame relaxed from the tense way he’d been standing. It almost looked as if he’d been prepared to bash in the door if you hadn’t come to answer.

You unlocked the door and opened it, holding still to allow Papyrus to reach out and grasp your hands gently in his own. The skeleton monster looked you over, wearing that same concerned expression before his shoulders slumped in relief.

”I am glad that you are all right. I thought that maybe...” 

You were distracted from his words by how large Papyrus’ hands were, completely engulfing your own. There were some cracks and missing bits of bones in those gnarled fingers, topped by claws. Papyrus hands, in short, looked terrible. What had he been doing, climbing rocks bare-handed? Ripping off branches from trees? Running around on all fours?

”Human, are you okay?”

”I’m fine. And it’s y/n. Not human.” You honestly weren’t sure why you wouldn’t be okay. “Are _you_ all right?”

“That is debatable.” Papyrus confessed, peering over your shoulder as if expecting to find someone else in the RV with you. “I seemed to have misplaced my brother. Or rather, he appears to have wandered off.”

”...m’right here.”

You looked past Papyrus as the monster let go of your hands to turn toward the voice.

Sans was casually leaning up against a nearby tree, wearing that blank smile of his. Red eye light bright, Sans raised a hand to waggle a few fingers at his brother in greeting.

”You were not there before.” Papyrus said sternly. “You wouldn’t have happened to abuse your ability to warp reality to be somewhere you ought not to be?"

"...was fishing.” Sans offered with an easy shrug and a wider grin, a phalange idly picking at the gaping hole in his skull.

”Really.” Papyrus crossed his arms. “Does this mean that you’ve finally decided to wash up? Your clothing is rather filthy after getting caught up in that mudslide.”

You watched as Sans tucked his hands in his pockets, the monster’s grin tugging even further up at the corners.

”...nah. didn’t wanna swim with the fishes.”

Papyrus let out a despairing groan.

”Sans can use my shower.” You offered, biting back a smile over the way Sans lie on the grass and pantomimed swimming, just to presumably irritate his brother further. “I don’t know if you’d be able to fit in the shower though, Papyrus.”

The big monster turned and gently patted your arm, but even that light touch jostled you.

”I do not mind using lake water to wash dirt and grime off my bones.” Crooked teeth flashed in a mischievous smile. “You don’t mind Sans using your shower?”

”I don’t.” You watched as Papyrus swiftly walked toward Sans, who was still sprawled out on the grass.

”Did you hear that, brother?” Papyrus said jovially, as he seized Sans by his jacket. “What a nice offer to use a shower. I think you should get your coccyx back into the vehicular home and take advantage of the offer.” Papyrus seamlessly unzipped and dumped Sans out of his jacket as he flipped his brother over a shoulder. “Won’t it be wonderful to get all those bones clean for once, with shampoo and body wash and those scrunchie washing cloths humans have? And while you’re doing that, I can attempt to salvage your clothes.” Papyrus took a few long strides back toward the RV.

Sans honest to goodness growled the entire way.

Well, this wasn’t exactly going how you thought an offer to use the shower would go.

You ducked back inside the RV as Sans continued to growl, as if to let it be known that he did not appreciate Papyrus' enthusiasm about showers and the sudden divesting of his clothing in full view of the human.

”...m’not...babybones.” 

You wondered what that meant but had to back up a few steps as Sans rolled off Papyrus’ shoulder and hit the floor, resisting the removal of his rumpled, dirty shirt.

“...can do it m’self, paps.”

”I’m sure you can but you’re currently doing a fantastic job of sneaking _back_ into the clothing instead of _out_ of them.”

”...i can go back to the lake.”

”Nonsense. Make use of the shower that’s been nicely offered to you.” Papyrus suddenly lost hold of the shirt as Sans sneakily twisted away.

You backed further into the RV, toward the front seats, to avoid getting caught up in an impromptu wresting match.

Sans attempted to slip out of the RV but was grasped by the back of his shirt collar.

Who fought against taking a shower?

You loved showers, and loved that you could just take one in the RV and not have to go into a hotel or a gym to take one. 

“Honestly, Sans, quit growling and baring your teeth at me in front of the human." Papyrus scolded. "I’m merely trying to help.”

You think the resulting, louder growl from Sans meant he didn't agree, along with an accidental kick to his brother’s femur.

The snarl Papyrus let out was a great deal more terrifying than Sans' growls. In the silence that followed, Papyrus let go of Sans and hunkered his giant frame down, peeking at you with shame in his expression.

"...you win, bro. i'll take a shower." Sans' shoulders began to quiver. "...don't wanna have the offer go down the drain to snarl up with my hair."

"Your sense of humor is such a joy." Papyrus sighed, his voice heavy with sarcasm "And you have no hair with which to snarl drains."

Sans grinned before he burst out into deep, rumbling laughter, his eye light shining brightly at some unsaid punchline.

At least someone was having fun, you supposed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If y’all care to know, I was referencing G'mork from The Neverending Story. That movie honestly gave me nightmares as a kid, who just so happened to stumble across it in the late 90's (now I just snerk at it but seriously, screw that animatronic puppet wolf).


	6. Shower

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Does some skeleton bone exposure need a warning?

You watched as Sans shuffled to the area of the RV that held the shower, sink and toilet. It would be a tight fit, but if Sans ducked his skull, he could make it work. You politely turned your head as Sans reached down to shuck off his track pants.

“Really, Sans, at least keep all your clothes together, even if it is in a pile of disarray.” Papyrus said.

Right in front of the coffee table, Papyrus tossed the track pants with the faded white, stained shirt and faded blue jacket, which, on closer inspection, had something rust colored stained on it. Socks and faded pink slippers soon joined the pile.

The water turned on, and Sans growled something low.

You could actually hear the skeleton monster take a step back.

“What were you expecting? Stationary water? Go on, get to it.” Papyrus said encouragingly. “Remember, you’ll get all the dirt off from sleeping in said dirt, up in trees and in old animal dens.”

You should have expected these two to not be living in the best of conditions but but did you ever feel even worse about their situation. 

”...wasn’t ‘specting nothing.” Sans rumbled lowly, hesitating a moment before adding. “...it’s warm. feels good.”

Some time passed, and you settled onto the couch from where you’d been standing by the front seat. You watched as Papyrus began to add dirt covered wash cloths to the pile of Sans’ clothing with a toss of his hand. You quietly began to calculate how much laundry soap would be needed to get all the monsters clothes clean. You came to the conclusion that your were going to need to get more cleaning supplies sooner than anticipated.

“That will do for now, I suppose.” Papyrus announced some time later. He produced a long, ratty towel from out of nowhere, like a magic trick.

Was that...was Papyrus using a dimensional that you’d heard about in the past?

Since you had turned your head to watch Papyrus, you ended up witnessing Sans squeeze out of the small bathroom area, towel wrapped around his waist. 

Sans held perfectly still until he abruptly turned his skull to the side, some water trickling out of his empty right socket.

You couldn’t help but stare.

Sans’ bones weren’t as thick as Papyrus were, but Sans’ ulna and radius were still bigger than yours. His bones looked sturdier than human bones could ever hope to be. Sans’ ribs were nicked, and his sternum looked like he’d taken a sharp cut across it, up to his right shoulder and collarbone. The spine was the least beaten-up part of his entire body that was exposed and not covered up by a towel.

Sans sensed your gaze, his skull snapping up as his eye light looked directly at you, which made you hastily turn your attention to Papyrus.

”There’s some really loose fitting clothes that I use as pajamas that you two can borrow. It might be a tight fit, but you can use them until your clothes are clean. The clothes are beneath the bed, in small bins.”

Papyrus looked grateful and, hunched over a tad so as to not hit the ceiling, he trailed off to the back of the RV.

Without his brother near, Sans began to inch closer to you, while wearing nothing but that towel that clung to his iliac crests. Sans stared blankly at you, as he had ever since he’d woken up.

It was honestly creepy.

Sans’ expression hardly ever changed from that hollow grin and bright glowing eye light, black-like dot of a pupil in the middle making the act all the more unnerving.

”Was the shower better than swimming with the fishes?” You tentatively asked, when Sans reached the side of the couch and stood there looming over you.

“...it was...it...” Trailing off, Sans’ smile tightened as his eye light contracted, before it went back to nearly filling his entire socket. He gave his skull a rough shake. “...it was nice. there were funny tiles.” A pause, a brief twitch up at the sides of his teeth. “...barely fit.”

”Well, you are tall and much broader than I thought, being all bones.” You laughed. Funny tiles, was it? You’d completely forgotten about those silly emoji tiles mixed in with the plain gray and black tiles. It was nice that someone else was around to appreciate them.

Sans’ grin softened a tad bit before it dropped back to neutral, as if he remembered just who he was talking to. The monster went back to quietly observing you, eye light boring a figurative hole in you, until Papyrus reappeared. The bigger skeleton gently tugged Sans toward the front door of the RV.

”Come on, brother, I would like for you to keep an eye out while I cleanse myself and our clothing of all this dirt and grime in the lake.”

”I have a washer and drier in here, if you’d like to wash your clothes with laundry detergent instead of lake water.” You smiled at Papyrus, who was absolutely delighted over this. His small sockets squinched up at the sides, crooked teeth showing off a great big smile.

“It would be nice to have clothing that doesn’t smell of aquatic life.”

You more than happy to help Papyrus with wringing out the clothing in the shower to get the initial dirt washed out, before showing him how to work the smaller washer, beginning the first cycle.

Once this was taken care of, Papyrus swept out of the RV with Sans, who was still only wore a towel. Sans did hold a pile of clothes in his arms as his brother led the way toward the nearby lake.

Sans cast a single glance back your way, before he focused on whatever Papyrus was saying to him, as he had before.

You did not allow yourself to wonder why you stared at Sans’ bare back. Were those...scratches on his scapula? It was hard to tell at a distance.

The moment they were out of sight, you sank back onto the couch. As far as you could tell, Papyrus was much more trusting of you and your willingness to help than Sans was. You didn’t fault him for that.

With what you suspected the two monsters had gone through, humans had been just as terrible to them as they had been to you in the past.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really am having fun typing these out. I’m sure I’ll slow down eventually, but I want to keep working on this while I’m motivated.   
> Sans gets a chapter POV next.


	7. Records

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sans and Papyrus are not okay.  
> Sans 3rd POV.   
> Addtnl tags: difficulties with memory due to skull injury, brief dissociation, logging thoughts in a notebook as means to remember past events, and Sans fantasizing about ripping off limbs due to a recollection. Also, some creep factor by Sans secretly keeping some strands of reader’s hair for reasons.

It was quiet.

Peaceful.

Sans allowed himself to relax for a short time, near the lake while Papyrus cleaned his bones off in the water. It was good for his brother to have some calm after the past two weeks. Those two weeks...they had been...

Sans frowned, his grin slipping. 

Why two weeks?

This was something that he couldn’t remember.

It was incredibly frustrating.

Sans’ memory wasn’t like it used to be. Not after he’d taken the crack to his skull that had destroyed the terrible if used to normalcy his life had been. Back when he could function without having to take so long to think about what he wanted to say or do. Sans’ hands flexed restlessly, his LV troubling him again amid the memory loss. He ought to mention that to Papyrus but maybe he already had. Sans didn’t want to trouble him while he was tentatively swimming in the lake.

Attention diverted from LV, Sans watched his brother. A rare smiled pulled at the corners of his teeth. It wasn’t the ocean, but it was a large body of water on the surface world, beneath a sky slowly becoming brighter as the darkness of night slowly bled away. Papyrus deserved to be happy like this more often. He shouldn’t have to worry about humans attempting to capture or harm them-

Sans perked up, grasping at that thought. 

Yes.

That was right.

Humans were why the past two weeks had been miserable, being hounded by them day and night. Papyrus had insisted at the time that Sans not harm the humans, when they might stumble across hastily set up traps.

Sans knew for sure that he’d almost completely drained himself of magic while fending off that particular group of humans. The LV rose within him just beneath the surface at the hazy memory, encouraging Sans to go back and find those humans. To go back and deal with those bastards that had nearly broken Papyrus’ arm and leg. Sans let out a hollow laugh, slightly higher pitched than his usual deeper tone. He didn't need magic to deal with humans that hurt him. Hurt his brother. The laughter trailed off into a series of manic giggles that Sans couldn’t stop as he began to fantasize about ripping off limbs and-

Hands seized Sans’ own, causing him to subconsciously lash out with several bone constructs, which were blocked by a single large bone construct.

”Sans.”

Attack.

Sans' eye light shrank to a pinpoint.

They were attacking him.

Attacking Papyrus.

Sans didn’t have enough magic left to hold them off for much longer, nor did Sans have the energy to shortcut away from the danger.

”Sans! I’m here! It’s all right!”

Wait.

Was that...Papyrus? His brother...wasn’t hurt? 

Sans let the bone constructs he’d conjured up shatter into pieces. Breath uneven, Sans tugged a hand free to hook a few fingers into his empty right socket. He gave it a firm tug in a poor attempt to ground himself.

“Sans. Don't do that. You might crack bone." Papyrus carefully reached up to pull Sans’ phalanges away from his socket. "Where are we?”

”...by a lake.” Sans’ flickering eye light settled on the water a moment before fixing on Papyrus.   
  
“And how did we get here?”

”...the human.” Sans said, frowning as he focused on the past day. “...you hitchhiked like in those movies. a human...let us in their box home on wheels? it’s late morning. took a... shower little bit ago.” 

It was quiet.

Peaceful.

After the narrow escape they’d had yesterday afternoon...

It was best not to think about that, lest Sans’ mind drift to violence again. He knew Papyrus frowned upon solving problems with violence, unless it involved traps and puzzles that _ended_ with violent captures in said puzzles and traps.

“...you’re taking a dunk in the lake. m'keeping watch.” Sans hesitated, then added. "...clothes in washer."

”That's right! Well done, brother! Your memory is much better than last month!" Papyrus said cheerfully. His smile slipped a little, becoming sympathetic as he let go of Sans. "And where is your notebook? The one I took from the basement back home?" 

"...notebook." Sans furrowed his brow bone. He should know where it was.

“In your dimensional box?” Papyrus prompted, when the silence had stretched on.

Sans considered the question, frustration ebbing away. That seemed a safe place to keep it. Sans gave his brother a slow, hesitant nod. With a little difficulty recalling how to reach it, but getting better every time he tried, Sans opened the dimensional box and produced a battered notebook.

”Here.” Papyrus offered a pen that looked tiny when held in his hand. “I’m going to finish up in the lake, and then we can go take a look around the area.”

Sans nodded distractedly, taking the pen as he sat down and opened up the notebook. Right in the front, written in his handwriting from before the accident, read the following:

_record it all._

_don’t leave anything out._

_resets are real._

_keep an eye on the kid._

Beneath these words, Sans saw shaky handwriting. It was still his own, but it was from after he’d received the hole in his skull:

_on the surface somehow._

_paps says to create new memories._

_remember frisk and how they tried to help._

_don’t trust the other humans._

Right beneath Sans’ words were Papyrus’, written in all capital letters.

_THE SURFACE IS SURE TO HAVE GREAT OPPORTUNITIES AND FRIENDS FOR US TO MEET!_

_DON’T GET DISCOURAGED._

_I’M ALWAYS HERE FOR YOU! I BELIEVE IN YOU!_

Sans paged quickly through old memories of the underground until he reached a page that had a leaf taped to it. 

There it was.

Sans knew he’d put a leaf in the notebook. He had wanted a way to indicate that the following pages were of the surface world. Sans spent some time reading through his writing, and the observations that he’d made. He began to relax once more as pieces began to fall into place.

It wasn’t a perfect recollection.

It never would be, but it allowed Sans a sense of control.

Maybe...the surface world would be good for him, eventually, like Papyrus thought it would be.

Sans reached the last page he’d written on, and was inwardly relieved that he more or less remembered every major event since they’d been beneath a true sky. It was just the last two weeks that were giving him...trouble.

Turning to a blank page, Sans began to record new observations for himself.

_paps found a human._

_they haven’t tried to attack us._ _let us into their home._

_they're different from frisk, but getting the same feeling of wanting to help me and paps._

_their soul doesn’t make the judge react._

_smells good._

_hair feels nice._

_skin warm._

_paps says to not harm this human._

Sans produced some strands of hair in a plastic bag out of his inventory. He didn’t think anything of sneaking a few hairs from the human’s head while they’d been sleeping. Using tape from his dimensional box inventory, Sans secured the small plastic bag in the notebook. He figured if he needed a reminder of who not to harm, Sans could go back to this page.

...Was it weird to sniff hair out of a plastic bag for scent? 

Maybe.

...

Sans would keep it to himself.

No one else needed to know.

Sans went back to writing, struggling to make the handwriting legible.

_keep an eye on this new human._

_use hair to remember scent so you don’t harm them. maybe find a scrap of clothing?_

_make sure there isn’t any hidden intent toward me and paps._

_won’t let anyone hurt my bro ever again._

_if this human tries to...no one will stop me from protecting paps._

”Are you finished, Sans?” Papyrus asked, walking closer as he tugged down the hem of a long sleeved button up he wore. It just barely missed covering up the lowest of his ribs, his spine visible until it dipped beneath a pair of pants.

“...yeah, m'done." Sans put notebook and pen into the inventory and stood up. He grinned ruefully when Papyrus brandished a t-shirt and sweatpants at him, and glanced down to see the towel still wrapped around his waist. “...guess i don’t want to flash the wildlife.” Sans dropped the towel down anyway and laughed good-naturedly as Papyrus tossed the clothes at him.

Papyrus' skull jerked up and to the side in a way to imitate an eye roll.

Sans struggled into the clothing, pausing as he got the collar of the shirt caught on his broken skull.

”Hold still.” Papyrus carefully freed the fabric and tugged the shirt on the rest of the way. “Ready to go explore the perimeter of this area?”

The false cheer was grating.

Papyrus wasn't happy.

At all.

"Sans?"

“...yeah.” Sans attempted to put his hands into pockets. There weren't any. "...m'good." Sans gripped the shirt in either of his hands as he flashed a blank smile up at Papyrus. “...m’ready to go.”

Papyrus stared at Sans for a moment before his crooked smile hitched back into place.

"Then off we go!"

"...right behind you, bro."

For all the trouble Sans had with his memory, he hadn’t lost the ability to read the faces of others. It was a shame that it was affecting his relationship with his brother. Sooner or later, Sans knew he would do something that Papyrus wouldn't forgive him for. The worst part was that Sans might not remember what he did to get to that point, but he would certainly see proof of it in Papyrus' expression.

There'd be no going back to pretending everything was fine if and when that happened. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As an fyi, while there's no trouble yet with people finding them, there is a part in the next chapter where Sans snaps over what he thinks is obvious proof the reader is playing him and Papyrus for fools. It isn't pretty, since Papyrus has to be the one to stop Sans from acting hastily without more info, and potentially ruining their chance to keep out of having to hide in the wild.
> 
> It is not going to be smooth sailing and it will take Sans time to build up trust. Papyrus is a little more willing becuase he'd like friends again and someone to talk to that isn't his brother, as much as he cares about him.


	8. Temper

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Addtnl notes/warnings: calm before Sans reacts violently to finding anti-monster evidence in the reader’s RV- Sans basically ready for heads to roll, violent scuffle between Sans and Papyrus, reader hinting to past vandalism and harassment due to views on monsters, and Papyrus being very distraught.

The first week living in close proximity with two monsters went much more smoothly than you had anticipated.

Sans was quiet and tended to keep to himself, but was always nearby, observing you or Papyrus with a blank, serene smile. 

In contrast, Papyrus was overly cheerful and very happy to help you with any chores and enthusiastic when it came to cooking meals. He absolutely delighted at the most simplistic of dishes and had been quite put out over having to wait to make some spaghetti.

The large monster also happened to have made it his mission on day two of knowing you to have you come outside your RV with him for a ‘quick’ jog around the lake. You might have protested had you not noticed how closely Sans watched you when Papyrus asked.

You didn’t say no.

Sans had flashed a slow, pleased smile over the answer and the fact that Papyrus was beaming over with having a ‘workout partner’ since Sans was a lazybones and preferred napping to extracurricular activity.

Your muscles absolutely hated you the first few days due to not having a regular workout routine.

Papyrus had far too much energy, but you couldn’t help but notice that he spent a lot of time stretching, and even then, he hunched over when he ran, or when Papyrus doubled back in a brisk jog to check on you. You’d wanted to bring it up, concerned that staying in your RV might be giving him a crick in his neck. But anytime you tried, Papyrus would jovially override your words by insisting that the two of you continue on and not leave Sans alone for long periods of time.

You left the matter alone.

Papyrus made it clear without expressly stating it that he didn’t want to talk about the state of his janky spine. 

But what you noticed the most about not being alone was that the time seemed to pass by more quickly with two companions to speak to and hang out with.

Well, you spoke mainly to Papyrus, since Sans was mainly silent around you apart from some rare moments when he let his guard down. When those times happened, Sans would rumble away aimlessly about different subjects, the last of which had been about how the surface of the lake where they were looked different from one he saw before, the vegetation and species varying.

Sans seemed deeply invested in staring out a window or to the side at grass, depending on where he was, for hours at a time once he finished speaking with you.

Papyrus sometimes walked by to give Sans a reassuring pat on the shoulder before bustling off to do something else.

You had this spot reserved for a whole month before you moved on to your next destination. That was plenty of time to see if Papyrus and Sans wants to stick around with you. 

It was two weeks into enjoying a calm companionship with the two monsters when things went terribly wrong.

You hadn’t seen it coming.

There had been no warning whatsoever.

-x-x-x-

You’d completely forgotten about that horrid box of anti-monster paraphernalia that you’d tucked away, until Sans came across it right before you planned to go to bed, and lost his damn mind.

In hindsight, you should have been rid of that damn box as soon as it had filled up with papers, leaflets left tucked up under your windshield wipers and in poor-taste advertisements. All of it you’d received from overzealous people still spreading hateful discourse, despite monsters not being sighted or heard from in years. You’d only kept what you were given out of fear of retaliation over not being as anti-monster as most humans still seemed to be. Which meant you couldn’t discard the papers the moment you got one, in case someone saw you get rid of it.

Not that Sans knew all this, since he refused to allow you to explain the box and its contents when he suddenly dumped it on the floor in front of you, right by the refrigerator. Not only that, as soon as the box was out of his hands, Sans produced his cleaver, teeth bared as he let out a savage growl.

When had he gotten that cleaver back from Papyrus?

You stumbled backward as Sans took a step toward you, the red glow of his eye light fixed on you. Turning, you made a quick beeline for the door before he swung that weapon at you. Which would have been terrifying no matter who it was. But with it being Sans, who stood at six feet and some inches tall, and an actual furious expression in place of the emptiness and usual calm? That made it so much worse.

Instead of a prat-fall out the door you’d expected, you ran into a solid mass of bone beneath fabric.

When had Sans gotten ahead of you?

He’s been right behind you not seconds ago.

“...knew it was too good to be true.” Sans seized the front of your shirt, taking advantage of your surprise and drawing out a gasp from you as he lifted you up onto your tiptoes. The skeleton monster wore a nasty grin now, his eye light contracting in its socket as he raised the cleaver high over his head. “...guess i get that head-dog after all.”

Distracted as you were by imminent death, you didn’t see the way Papyrus loomed up behind his brother, until he seized Sans’ wrist, preventing the downward swing of the cleaver.

“What’s all this about?” Papyrus attempted to remove the blade from Sans’ grasp, but Sans refused to let go. “I thought we agreed to not harm the human?”

“...they have all those. they have those...papers. anti-monster papers in a box.” Sans snarled brokenly at his brother, yanking his hand hard against the hold Papyrus had around his wrist. Sans let go of your shirt to try and pull out of Papyrus’ grasp. “...let go of me.”

“That box is supposed to be tossed into a bonfire the moment I can build one.” You used the breather to explain the box, though you weren’t sure Sans was bothering to listen to you.

Papyrus, at least, seemed willing to hear an explanation, and held onto his brother’s wrist, easily deterring Sans from slipping away as his skull angled down to look at you.

“I collected the papers in a box because people kept pushing them on me. I didn’t want to chance getting into a bad situation if I refused the material. Didn’t go so well in the past, when I lived in an apartment and didn’t have many places to run to when people realized that I was a ‘monster sympathizer.’” You made air quotes for those words, smiling bitterly over the memories. “You know, for not hating monsters like seemingly everyone else.” You jabbed a finger at Sans the second you saw him turn toward you. “And you, don’t go through people’s belongings, even the unwanted ones, and jump to conclusions.” You sighed. “Even if I do agree that _that..._ ” You gave the box a sullen kick _. “..._ looks bad. I had honestly forgotten that this box was even in here.”

“I see...that is most unfortunate that there is still so much hate.” Papyrus looked to be doing some quick thinking, and you really didn’t like how his expression became sad. Almost resigned. He then took a breath and let it out, as though bracing himself for something. “Y/n, if you would, please stay in here.”

“Okay?”

“This may not be something you want to witness. It is going to be very unpleasant and distressing for everyone involved.” Papyrus took another breath and let it out. “I don’t want to bear witness to it either but I don’t have a choice in the matter.”

Sans stilled for just a moment, hearing something in his brother’s tone that you clearly hadn’t picked up on.

Papyrus suddenly twisted the cleaver out of Sans’ grasp, drawing out a hiss of pain. It was done much more roughly than what Papyrus had attempted before, and Papyrus still didn’t let go as he forcefully hauled Sans out of the RV.

You watched in surprise as Papyrus tossed his brother a distance away, in the opposite direction of the vehicle. All you could do was watch from where you’d sat down hard on the floor, now that you weren’t actively in danger of dying anymore. But it certainly _was_ distressing to watch the way Papyrus and Sans immediately and viciously began to fight with one another. 

The stunned look on Sans’ face had quickly morphed into an unhinged expression, his laughter emitting in a dark, tumbling chuckle. It was as if Sans had just heard the funniest punchline of all time to a joke he’d never been told of his entire life. 

Blue colored bones mixed in with white, forcing Papyrus to block while Sans jerkily stepped out of the way to avoid being struck.

It was painful to witness this and you felt that you should have taken Papyrus’ advice to not watch.

But you couldn’t move.

You’d never seen monsters fight with one another before.

From what you could tell, Papyrus was holding back and doing his best to control the pattern of his attacks while Sans slowly began to unleash wild, unruly patterns that grew stronger with every passing second, even if his magic was sputtering in and out of existence. You looked away when an attack, albeit a small one, made contact and Sans staggered back, his smile cycling from shock, to bitterness, to understanding and then tired resignation.

“...they’re lying, paps.” Sans looked past Papyrus right at you, his good socket narrowing. “...they’re going to hurt us if you let them live.”

You squeezed your eyes shut at the sight of a terrifying head of a bony dragon-like creature that popped into existence right in front of the door to the RV, hovering in midair.

A loud, distraught apology rang out, followed closely by a grunt and then silence.

Risking opening your eyes, you saw that the floating head of the creature was gone.

Papyrus was on the ground, holding Sans close, trembling, his voice rapid but quiet enough that it didn’t carry back to you. Sans’ sockets were open yet completely void of any glow, the monster’s smaller frame draped limply against Papyrus.

Not knowing what to do until Papyrus said something, you scooted across the floor, and found a pen on the floor. In a daze, you closed the box’s lid and wrote on it in large letters in what was essentially a note to Sans, if he found the box again before you could get rid of it.

_Had to keep this stuff so people wouldn’t decide to try to break into my home, wreck my belongings and set my car on fire again._

Papyrus had started to cry in earnest, but you could now hear his words through raspy, shuddering breaths.

”Don’t make me do that ever again, Sans. I don’t like reminders of the underground. Of what I did. Of what we did to survive there. They are not pleasant recollections, the ones of the visitors to the underground.”

That Sans didn’t respond seemed to upset Papyrus even more.

You couldn’t speak.

”But we are on the surface, so I will do my best to not dwell on those memories! And right now, we are fortunate that I still have perfect control over my damage output.” Papyrus sounded half-proud and half-sad, choking up as he continued on. “I’m sorry, brother. I didn’t want to fight, but you left me with no other option this time.” When the tears ran their course, Papyrus sniffed miserably before he rested a hand over Sans’ sternum, a green glow becoming visible.

You sat up a little straighter from where you’d been slouched, unmoving, on the floor of the RV.

Was kind of magic was that?


	9. Asleep

You watched the green glow continue for a time, until it faded from Papyrus’ hand, the monster anxiously looking Sans over before his broad shoulders dropped in relief. 

Papyrus remained in place for a moment before he carefully collected Sans into his arms. He held his brother close as he walked back toward your RV, Papyrus expression one of grief before it switched to wariness, as he came to a halt a few feet from the door. Papyrus almost seemed to expect you to not let him inside with unconscious brother.

There was a split second where you almost said no.

But Papyrus _had_ saved you from Sans lopping off your head with a cleaver. Papyrus had also listened to you when you explained about the box of anti-monster stuff. You hoped to never think about it again, at least until you made a bonfire. It would be very therapeutic to watch the contents of the box burn away. 

You must have been silent a little too long, because Papyrus’ expression fell, as if he had expected this kind of response. But he didn’t argue remaining and turned, as if he were prepared to walk away. Quickly, you called after him. “Papyrus!”

The large monster flinched but warily stopped walking as he half turned.

“Sans can rest on the couch, or if it’s be more comfortable, I can make the bed king sized in back so he can fit onto it.” You must have surprised Papyrus because he hesitantly ducked his skull, staring at the ground as if weighing your words. 

“It was just lack of communication. I should have remembered the box, even if I didn’t think Sans would go poking around.” You added. “Neither of you have me any reason to worry for my safety, and I think talking about it with Sans might help, now that he’s...cooled off from the initial shock?”

“If he remembers, then it would do to have a chat about it.” Papyrus hesitated, before he walked back over to the RV, and met your eyes before dropping his stare back to the ground. “As for a place for him to rest before he regains consciousness...a bed would be much appreciated for him.”

”Give me a minute to get the bed set up.” When you saw Papyrus linger outside, your expression softened. “You don’t have to wait outside. Come in.” 

Papyrus offered a small, hopeful smile that fell into one of concentration as he carefully maneuvered his big body up the steps, while still holding Sans and making efforts to not drop him or brush his body against a wall.

It was automatic, setting up the bed, and as soon as you were finished, you came back to get Papyrus. You didn’t even need to say anything to let him know he could go get Sans settled.

The large monster gave you a grateful nod and squeezed past you to bring Sans to the back of the RV.

You ended up sitting on the couch, but in no time at all, Papyrus came back. It hurt to see those tears back.

“I tried to tell him.” You said, while Papyrus sat himself down on the floor to lean against the side of the couch.

”I’m sure you did.” Papyrus took a shuddering breath and let it out, drawing a sleeve up across his sockets. His skull turned to the side so that he could see you. The monster rested a hand over his brow bone, pinching his nasal cavity absently. “Sans...he doesn’t do well with listening to reason after...after he was hurt so badly. It soon became easier to act on evidence found instead of judging people as they are and hear their words.” Papyrus went quiet a moment, then spoke very softly, sniffing as he sagged hard into the side of the couch. “Y/n, I’m so very tired.”

You didn’t think that Papyrus meant that he needed sleep. 

“I do my best to keep Sans grounded, to make sure he sees reason before making assumptions, but he hadn’t been himself in years. There are peeks of it, of course, such as his terrible jokes and puns, but he’s...” Papyrus buried his face in his hands, the tears continuing to fall. “...he’s a shell of who he used to be. It hurts so much, to see my brother lose more of himself with each year that passes. The clarity is becoming more hazy.”

You were quiet, but turned to meet Papyrus’ eye sockets to show that you were listening to him.  
  
“I worry for the day when I can’t bring Sans back.” Papyrus looked pained when he said this. “I don’t enjoy hurting him, but reasoning with him with words just isn’t working anymore. But fighting with him...it makes me quite ill, but I can’t chance the possibility of him slipping out of my sight for long. Sans hates humans, again, with what we’ve been through since we’ve been on the surface. Sans seemed willing to listen to me about you at first, to give you a chance.” Papyrus’ hand moved away from his skull with a weary sigh, his small sockets scrunched up in misery. “I Checked and saw that you were honest about the contents of the box, but Sans didn’t bother and he’s better at Checks than I am. He wouldn’t look, I guess, after seeing those anti-monster papers. But he did give you a warning of his intentions, instead of sneaking up on you. Sans even allowed you a chance to run, even if he cut off your escape.”

”Is that supposed to make me feel better about a cleaver that was about to be swung at my head.” You asked faintly.

”Not really, I suppose.” Papyrus rolled a shoulder in a shrug. “But perhaps the knowledge that he could have killed you straight away instead of drawing things out would?”

“No, that is...that is kind of worse know he’s capable of that.” When you’d first seen Sans with that cleaver, there’d been some fear. To see that fearful look paired with the weapon was worse.

“Well, to each their own, I suppose. I, for one, am quite grateful that Sans gave me the opportunity to stop him. He even refrained from reentering this vehicular home with one of his shortcuts.” Papyrus’ crooked teeth were pulled up in a strained smile. “Since he didn’t, and remained outside to engage in battle, this meant, to me, that deep down, Sans wanted me to stop him. To prevent him from harming you.” Papyrus hunched up his frame, attempting to make himself smaller. “Y/n, I’ve been watching out for Sans ever since he nearly Fell Down from the injury to his skull. Years, Y/n, and I feel as if I am reaching my limit. I don’t know what to do. I don’t want to ever have to put Sans out of his misery unless I have no other choice. I won’t allow him to go on a killing spree in a city if he completely loses himself. If I am still of sound mind to be able to stop him, I will have to, as unhappy as it would make me.”

You didn’t know what to say to that, so you carefully, slowly reached over and held out your hand on the arm of the chair. You didn’t flinch when a large bony hand grasped it loosely, Papyrus mumbling something inaudible. From what you just heard, Papyrus took ‘my brother’s keeper’ seriously.

“I would just...” Papyrus’ tears ran dry as he sucked in a slow breath and let it out. “I would like for Sans to be able to trust at least one human again. It would be nice if my brother could get along with my new friend.” 

“You think of me as a friend?”

After just two weeks?

You supposed that you had heard in the past that monsters were overall very friendly people.

”It would be nice to have a friend.” Papyrus appeared self-conscious as he stumbled over his words, until he settled on a quiet and hopeful tone. “I’ve lost many of my friends over the years. It’s only my brother and I now.”

”I think...I’d like that.” You said, staring down at the hand around your own. “To be friends.” You watched as Papyrus’ teeth crooked up into a happy smile. 

“Then let us be friends!” Papyrus started to grin more widely. “Wowie, it’s been so long since I’ve had friends! How nice it is!” Papyrus switched from happy to serious in an instance. “As your friend, Y/n, I would like to make a request. I...would like for you to prove to Sans that you mean us no harm. I believe it would help prevent misunderstandings in the future. If you are all right with us living in your vehicular home for a time.”

You made an attempt not to balk about the idea of going near Sans so soon after nearly being attacks, but failed.

”I’ll make sure you won’t be harmed.” Papyrus said, his expression becoming sad yet understanding. “Sans just needs to have the judge show him that everything is okay. That things aren’t as bad as he thought they were.”

”The judge?” You questioned. “Is there someone else around that I don’t know about? Another monster?”

“Oh, no, not at all. Sans is the Judge.” Papyrus said, as if this would make perfect sense to you. 

You wondered how that was supposed to work, if Sans were still unconscious.

“Let me show you?” Papyrus stood up, still holding your hand. The large monster carefully brought you to your feet as well, and gently squeezed your hand in reassurance. “If it’s too much, you don’t have to stay.”

”All right.” You agreed, allowing Papyrus to lead you to the back of the RV, where Sans rested.

If you thought meeting monsters was the most exciting thing you’d experienced in your life...meeting the judge was the exact opposite. It was so uncomfortable and uncanny that you knew that you would not forget the encounter any time soon.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m starting to write out the drafts of future chapters again, so the update schedule of this fic will be kind of at random depending on when those chapters are typed up/edited.
> 
> It’s. Still very refreshing to work on something that doesn’t make me get stuck (apart from correcting weird errors that show up in the text).


	10. Meeting

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *flips table*  
> Have a second update today!

Papyrus had you wait a few feet away from the bed as he slowly maneuvered his large frame onto the mattress, and situated himself on Sans’ right side.

”I need to be out of my brother’s line of sight for this to work.” Papyrus answered your unasked question. “Though there is no guarantee that calling up the judge will even work.” Papyrus propped Sans up into a seated position, leaning him back against the wall of the RV. “If you could, y/n, stand at the end of the bed facing Sans directly?”

That seemed pretty cryptic to you, but you did as the monster asked. It felt a little silly to you to stand there while Sans was still asleep. You watched as Papyrus did something to make a dim glow appear beneath the other monster's shirt. The hoodie had been taken off and laid out on the bed to Sans` left.

The glow changed from pale white to blue, causing Sans to issue out a low murmur of protest before quieting.

”Be yourself.” Papyrus quietly told you. “And do be honest.” With a resolute expression, Papyrus addressed his brother in a slightly more formal manner than he usually spoke to Sans with. “It’s time for you to wake up. There is someone before you for a judgment. They are non-threatening, with a LV of 1 and no EXP. This is just a standard formality for future reference.”

LV 1?

No EXP?

What was that all about? It wasn’t like you were in a video game where there were stats. You went perfectly still when a dim, fuzzy white eye light flickered to life in Sans’ left socket.

After seeing the blown-wide glow of red, it was an eerie change.

Sans...he looked at you with an awareness and knowing that hadn’t been there before. It was as if his gaze was breaking you down into pieces bit by bit, taking it all in, and drawing conclusions from what he saw but didn’t hear. Had you any sins, they may have crawled down your back. But there was nothing so dramatic as that in your life to be concerned with, so the odd feeling was pushed back the longer Sans stared at you.

”lv 1 without any exp. a human who doesn’t rise to the level of others when pressed.” Sans voice was different. There was a calm cadence that lacked the hesitation you ordinarily heard while Sans spoke. It wasn't quite as deep in tone either. "What has been done that a judgment was called for?”

“Well...” You glanced at Papyrus, who discreetly indicated the box you’d tucked away. You looked back at Sans. “There was concern about a box of anti-monster papers in my home.”

”what reason is there for you to have them?” Sans asked, seemingly laid back and unconcerned.

”I was given the papers by people who wouldn’t take being told no well. I took the papers to make sure there were no threats made toward me for not being ‘anti-monster.’ I’m hoping there is a bonfire pit marked on the next area I’m going to so I can get rid of it.”

“so you don’t agree with the hateful rhetoric.”

”No.”

”what did i do when i saw it?”

”You...took out a cleaver and attacked me.” You watched Sans’ brow bone furrow, before the white eye light flickered to the right, as though he could sense Papyrus was there. 

“you aren’t usually around for judgments.”

”Circumstances.” Papyrus said. “If it were not obvious from y/n’s words, we have been on the surface world now for a handful of years.”

“the king hasn’t ordered any judgments in all that time?” Sans asked.

”The...the king felt that you were unfit for passing judgement during the time spent in recovery after the injury to your skull." Papyrus clenched a hand against a femur. "And after you recovered enough to function, there were fewer times that the judge was needed.”

”does he believe that, with my injury, i am unfit for the position?” Sans questioned bluntly. “no matter the other losses that comes with an injury, this part of me, the judge, will continue to exist. it is a separate magic from my own. because of that, i do have clarity as the judge to make decisions that are required for the position.”

"I figured as much." Papyrus' expression was very unhappy but he didn’t argue with Sans’ words. But it didn’t prevent him from speaking of something else. “If you could, convey all of that that into your notebook, to be reviewed at a later time?” Another sad smile crossed Papyrus’ face as Sans drew out a battered notebook from a dimensional box with ease, and wrote in it for a time.

”It would also be of great help to have the judgement of this human recorded.” Papyrus said softly. “Anything to ensure that the human is not harmed.”

“does this have to do with the blue magic you’ve wrapped around my soul?” Sans asked mildly. He didn’t need to see Papyrus’ expression to be able to draw conclusions from earlier. “that’s right. you said i didn’t check the human."

“The blue magic is just a precaution.” Papyrus said, his expression darkening. “And that’s right, you didn’t check. You just passed judgment as if you already suspected guilt.”

“there will have to be something done about that." Sans paused briefly in his writing. "a judge needs to check and see what another has done. not just pass a verdict without certainty of a crime being committed.” 

”And how does one do that when it is yourself that can’t access the judge in those times?”

Sans was still and silent for a moment, but he said nothing in response to Papyrus’ question. Sans turned the page of the notebook and wrote some more.

You didn’t think that Papyrus could look any more heart-broken than he did in that moment.

“you want to say something.” Sans said to Papyrus, as he closed the notebook and set it on his lap. “your soul is...filled with unease and lack of hope.”

”The surface is...not as great as I had hoped for.” Papyrus said glumly. “I thought fresh air and good food would have helped you get better.”

”what’s done is done.” Sans said simply, hazy white eye light flickering as he stared up at the ceiling. “not everything will be the same as before.”

”No, it isn’t the same." Papyrus closed his sockets, his crooked teeth clenching together. "It hasn’t been the same, even before we came to the surface."

“...paps?”

You saw that Sans' eye light was back to its bright red glow. And he was looking straight at you, which made you tense up.

”Ah, welcome back, brother." Papyrus said, patting Sans’ shoulder. He quickly dropped the hand and drew his brother’s attention to the notebook. “I thought it would be good to have a little chat about y/n with the judge and have those observations written for you to read, _before_ you do something hasty and violent.”

“...shoulda let me finish.” Sans looked from you to the notebook, before he noticed the dim blue glow of his...soul, you presumed. “...talked to the judge?”

“Yes, Sans, we did. There wasn’t anything else I could think of that would penetrate that skull of yours apart from the truth of a judge who can’t lie.” Papyrus explained patiently.

There were so many questions you had in that moment, but at least the whole idea of a soul was one you had some information about.

Sans inched his hands to the notebook and Papyrus appeared to ease up on whatever magic he was using. Sans read the newest writing in the notebook. Whatever was written made his eye light flare wider, then shrink, then go wide again as he quickly lifted his skull to stare at you, then back down to the notebook. Sans frowned as he went back to the notebook. Then, he closed it, and let it drop to the bed next to him with a grumble.

”No more attempting to separate my friend’s head from their body?” Papyrus prompted a little too cheerfully.

”...looks like it.” Sans said. “...let go of m’soul.”

”...promise me that you will follow your own advice regarding the human, and I will.”

”...promise.” Sans said after a long silence, some tension in his voice. He sighed when the blue glow vanished. “...you’re no fun, bro.”

”Yes, yes, I’m the epitome of ruining your fun." Papyrus waved a hand. "An obstacle to embracing violent homicide when all my friend would like to do is toss that horrid box into a raging inferno.”

You broke into laughter over the solemn way Papyrus had delivered those words.

“...inferno?” Sans’ smile returned.“...bring the box outside.”

“You may as well do so." Papyrus told you as he awkwardly got off of the bed. "I don’t think I can change his mind with whatever is knocking about in his skull right now.”

Nervously, you gathered the box from a shelf overhead to carry it out of the RV, with Sans trailing close behind you, and Papyrus following him. 

Sans leaned over your shoulder, breath tickling your neck. Maybe he'd caught sight of the scribbled note you'd written for him?

“...set it over there.” Sans said, pointing a clawed finger a short distance away, once he stopped lurking so close behind you.

“Sure...” You set the box a few yards away where Sans had indicated, before retreating back to stand next to the him, but with a respectful distance. “What now? We can’t exactly set it on fire, since there isn’t a-“

The reappearance of that gigantic floating skeletal dragon head had made your heart leap in fright. But it wasn’t aimed at you this time. The maw of the bony creature dropped open, and all at once, a beam of light burst out, directly onto the box. At that, the floating skull crackled and disappeared, Sans swaying a little on the spot as Papyrus stepped forward to steady him.

”What was that?” You asked, staring at the smoldering pieces of what was left of the box and its contents.

”...gaster blaster.” Sans mumbled.

”Did you really have to blast a crater in the ground, brother?” Papyrus groaned, as he moved his hand away from Sans' back.

”...but it was a..." Sans said, his smile tugging up.

”Brother...” Papyrus began tartly.

"...a blast.” Sans finished, his smile growing wider.

"Sans...I am warning you.”

”...hear you loud and clear, paps.” Sans socket squinted a little as he grinned. "...no need to burn a gasket."

”Nyargh! You are impossible.” Papyrus stamped a foot. "And it is 'pop' a gasket."

“That was...quite explosive." Amid Papyrus lamenting your continued corruption via his brother, you stepped forward and crouched next to the deep crater. “Guess I don’t need a bonfire if you can just blast the box out of existence.” Straightening, you turned to Sans, and saw that the beam of light had sent debris flying. Without even thinking, you stepped closer. "Sans? There's something stuck on your skull."

Sans began to reach up before he stopped and leaned his skull toward to you, watching you closely.

Papyrus appeared to be holding his nonexistent breath.

"There must have been a shirt in that box." You plucked a scrap of cloth off where it was stuck half in and out of the crack in his skull. You stuffed it into your pocket to toss in the trash later. "Thanks for getting rid ofathe box. Hopefully people will stop handing out as much of that anti-monster stuff."

Sans made something of a grunt of agreement. Or maybe it was just because he swayed and almost collapsed against you, until Papyrus stepped in to hold him upright, tsking. 

"Really, Sans, you know better than to use those blasters these past few years. Your magic can't maintain them as easily."

A low snore rose from Sans.

"Unbelievable." Papyrus griped as he picked his brother up and carried him toward the RV. "You know you exhaust yourself with too much magic. And not too long after a fight with me, burning through said magic? Please be more careful."

You muffled a starled laugh when Sans winked his good socket at you from where his jawbone rested on Papyrus' shoulder, before he closed it again.

Sans appeared content with feigning slumber and being carried around.

Lazybones indeed, like Papyrus affectionately scolded him for being.

It was...nice, if a little surprising, how quickly Sans' attitude had changed toward you again. Had whatever been written about you in the notebook by the judge really been enough to convince Sans to dismiss all of his rage from before?

Only time would tell, it seemed.


	11. Enthusiasm

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Papyrus chapter  
> 

Papyrus didn't expect anything to change overnight. He knew better than to think that y/n and Sans would be comfortable with one another’s presence after what had happened.

But that was okay!

Papyrus knew that trust took time, even if he was confident that y/n was of no threat to him or his brother. And along with whatever the judge had written for Sans to read, Papyrus too had plans to help his brother and y/n see that they could get along just fine.

And what better way to bond then to have a picnic?

Papyrus had been ever so delighted when y/n had agreed with the idea. Papyrus had been even more enthused when he learned that their next spot they’d be spending the next two months at would be deep within a forest, surrounded by nature, though without a lake close by.

That was fine.

This just meant that a picnic would be cozier with trees all around them.

Papyrus couldn’t wait to get outside and get a good run in. It simply wasn’t in his nature to be still for so long.

Most unfortunately, once at their new desitnation, Papyrus found that Sans too hadn’t done well being cooped up in the vehicular home for days.

Sans left the moment y/n turned the vehicle off, without a word.

This had Papyrus outside as well, hands on his hips as he attempted to zero in on where his brother had gone off to. It just wouldn’t do to leave Sans on his own for too long. Papyrus had seen that look on Sans' face at the word ‘picnic.' Papyrus just knew it had triggered his brother to go on the hunt in the surrounding forest to catch prey. Papyrus wasn’t certain how y/n would feel about Sans bringing back something he caught. While it had been necessary to catch food while living in the wilds, it wasn’t so necessary right now with y/n and the groceries they’d been buying.

Unless...

Papyrus frowned thoughtfully, crooked teeth clicking together.

Ah.

Yes, that would make sense.

Sans might currently feel indebted to y/n for the food he and Papyrus were offered, and an idea of a picnic with more food y/n bought may have pushed Sans to try and provide, so that he felt like he was contributing.

Taking in the forested area, Papyrus found that it was denser than he had anticipated it being. He couldn’t get a good lock on Sans’ location after he’d rushed off into the trees without a backward glance.

Oh dear.

That wasn’t a good idea.

Not when it came to Sans and his tremulous grasp of the world around him.

Papyrus really needed to locate his brother, right now, and make sure that he wasn’t decimating the wildlife population. With a shake of his skull, and the removal of his boots, just in case, Papyrus took off into the trees after his brother. It took around a half hour of scouting the area before he finally found hidden tracks, and followed them until he finally caught up with his elusive brother.

Sans stood frozen in the middle of a small clearing, eye light dilated and glowing intensely, fixed on something. Sans glanced at Papyrus for a brief moment, before his attention went back to whatever he was watching in such a transfixed way.

Papyrus sighed when Sans bolted.

No doubt he’d caught sight of prey to run down.

With an internal grimace at the hell this was going to put on his spine, Papyrus dug his bare feet into the grass beneath him, and launched himself forward. Hitting the ground on all fours, Papyrus gave chase to his brother. While a much quicker way to run, it was also rather agonizing as it pulled at his joints that ought not to be bending as they were. But right now, Papyrus needed all the speed he could muster.

Sans was quick on his feet when he was in a mind to hunt, catch and kill, which made it incredibly difficult to pin him down in one place.   
  
Papyrus found himself led around in a long race through the underbrush and past trees, watching as Sans attempted to capture wildlife while also nimbly avoiding him. But with a quick pivot on Papyrus’ part minutes later, he finally tackled Sans, just as loud squeals rang out at the same time. Keeping an arm wrapped around Sans’ waist, Papyrus huffed as he lie on his side, preventing his brother from wriggling free with the rabbits he’d just caught.

“...mine.” Sans growled lowly at Papyrus, possessively holding tight to the two squealing rabbits trapped within his claws. His good socket narrowed as his skull twisted to the side, the red glow bright as he glared at his brother. “...my catch. wanna give them y/n.”

“But y/n already has food.” Papyrus slowly let go of his brother, still panting, as soon as he felt that Sans wasn’t going to take off again. Papyrus quirked a brow bone up at Sans when he turned to face him. “We don’t have to eat what is caught in a forest anymore." Thoughtfully, Papyrus studied his brother, who was purposefully avoiding eye contact. “Why wouldn’t you want to share your catch with me too, when we’ve always shared game caught in the past? Why give it specifically to y/n?" Papyrus watched with interest as an incredibly faint tinge of blue dusted crossed Sans’ cheekbones.

“...wanna contribute.” Sans muttered, absently keeping a firm grip on the squirming rabbits held in either of his hands.”...don’t wanna be indebted to y/n for their help.”

So it _was_ as Papyrus suspected, though he couldn’t help but feel that wasn’t all there was to it. That blush being an ineresting tidbit of information regarding his brother's inner thoughts.

Sans continued to not look at him.

”Sans?” Papyrus squinted at his brother. “Are your actions now...driven by whatever the judge had written about y/n in your notebook?” When Sans didn’t reply, Papyrus' voice became sly. “Did the judge’s opinion help you form one of your own about y/n? You’ve been unusually pleasant around them for the past few days than you were before.”

“...don’t look into it too closely.” Sans hands flexed against the rabbits gripped in his hands.

“Well, whatever your reasoning, we ought to get back so we don’t worry y/n.” Papyrus said, wincing and biting back a groan as he sat up. He decided to takes mercy on Sans and didn't press him further on the matter. Instead, once Papyrus was on his feet, he loosely grasped one of Sans’ upper arms, and led the way back to y/n.

Sans kept a firm hold of the panicked rabbits.

Papyrus hoped that bringing live game wouldn’t frighten y/n overly much. Even if Sans had said it didn’t mean anything, apart from feeling in debt to another person, Papyrus couldn’t help but notice that Sans appeared pleased with himself for his catch.

Sans ought to be.

Papyrud had been the one to capture game when Sans had used too much of his magic, but before that, Sans had been catching the most food for them.

Once the two monsters got close enough to the RV, y/n peered out the door. Y/n froze in place almost immediately when Sans pulled out of Papyrus’ hold and walked up to just outside the door.

With an empty smile turned bright, Sans presented the rabbits to y/n proudly.

Papyrus thought it was polite of y/n to neither scream nor say anything negative toward the sight of the rabbits.

“That’s...nice?” Y/n sounded like they weren’t sure what to say.

“...for the picnic.” Sans said of the rabbits wriggling frantically, though one had tired itself out and was just hanging limp within the monster’s hand.

”Did you catch those rabbits with your bare hands?” Y/n asked. When Sans nodded, y/n’s voice became surprised. “You did? Wow. Uh...I was under the impression that rabbits are very quick. You must be pretty fast...to do something like. And you caught two of them!”

Papyrus watched as Sans actually preened at the praise, his single large eye light shining in pleasure over the attention of his hunting skills, even if y/n hadn’t said as much. 

Sans shuffled closer, attempting to hand the rabbits off to y/n.

”While it’s great that you want to help out with the picnic and all, I already have the...ingredients, for it.” Y/n said, looking very much like they wanted to step away but didn’t want to offend Sans by doing so. They smiled apologetically. “We don’t really need the rabbits. They are pretty cute though...do you think that you could let them go this time?”

Sans was confused by this, and Papyrus watched as he stubbornly redoubled his efforts to give y/n the rabbits.

“Brother?” Papyrus walked over to him and gently clasped him on the shoulder, before letting go, lest it trigger any aggression over being too close to the caught game. ”I told you that there was enough food.” Papyrus offered a small smile. “But if we ever need any more, we both know that you’re the best with hunting.”

Sans’ vague, empty smile returned as he very, very reluctantly took a few steps away from y/n, and hesitantly set the rabbits down in the grass. It took a little trying to let go, since Sans was having a hard time releasing prey that he had successfully caught without making a meal out of it.

Papyrus understood what it meant to let food go like this.

But they weren’t starving.

Not anymore.

And when Papyrus saw the way Sans looked at y/n, and back at the rabbits, he understood. Sans was making certain that y/n meant it when they said they had enough food. Whatever he’d seen in y/n’s expression was enough, because Papyrus watched as Sans finally let go of the rabbits. It took one of the animals a little longer to realize that it was free. When the rabbit noticed, it scrabbled after its fellow in a weary if frantic way. Papyrus could plainly see that Sans wanted to go right back after it but managed to restrain the urge.

”Thanks, Sans.” Y/n said, once the rabbits were out of sight. They didn’t flinch when Sans’ eye light settled on them. “Like Papyrus said, if I ever need help with food, you’ll be the first one I ask. But now that that’s done...do you want to help with making the meals for the picnic with me and Papyrus?”

Sans glanced up at y/n, standing at the top of the RV stairs, and then at his feet, hands tucked in pockets, before he gave a single, slow nod.

"Great! Let's get started then!"

Papyrus noted that Sans’ whole posture and mood was one of great disappointment as well as confusion for his offering of food being rejected.

That was...interesting.

Papyrus smiled to himself as he followed Sans into the vehicular home.

‘Don’t look into it too closely’, indeed.

Why, if Papyrus didn’t know any better, he’d almost say his brother was interested in y/n as a date mate.

But it was too early to tell for something like that.

Neither Sans nor y/n were entirely comfortable in one another’s presence, but this was certainly a step toward them being, perhaps, friends?

Anyone who didn’t run screaming from his brother presenting a live food offering was a good person in Papyrus’ mind.


	12. Charm

“Ah! Y/n, I didn’t...I didn’t hear you come in...”

You stood just inside the RV, feeling embarrassed for the first time in days.

The picnic had gone perfectly.

You had been unable to stop smiling because Papyrus had been grinning so happily, his large frame so comical on the small blanket you’d found to place on the grass. Even Sans had been wearing a serene smile over his brother’s happiness.

All the food that had been prepared had been eaten, once the brothers had been assured that you’d eaten your fill.

There was something in the way that they devoured the rest of the food that made you unhappy. Not because there weren’t going to be leftovers but because it seemed as though the two monsters didn’t think there would always be food to have and needed to eat everything they could in case they had to go without eating for a time.

But right now...right now the concern was dashed in favor of embarrassment for walking in on Papyrus while he was changing into his sweater.

“S-sorry Papyrus. I thought you were still outside.” You turned around but not before you’d seen the large monster’s back without a shirt. From the stillness of Papyrus’ frame when you’d walked into the RV, he was distinctly uncomfortable about showing either his bones to you, or the way there was a curve to his spine that warped it from just beneath the scapula up to cervical vertebrae. You didn’t think that this had been caused by him hunching over in your RV for less than two months.

”Is there...a reason you came here?” Papyrus’ tone was guarded, as if he expected you to question him about his spine.

You didn’t.

“I was getting the list of groceries but now that I think about it...would you like some clothing that would fit you? You’re very tall but you shouldn’t have to wear the same sweater with all those tears in it.” You heard a rustle of clothes and when it stopped, you turned around to find Papyrus fidgeting by wringing his hands together, bone scraping together. “I was planning to go get some groceries in the town nearby, but I’m sure I could find a thrift store to get you some better fitted clothing.”

“That would...” Papyrus’ shoulders dropped in obvious relief over not being asked about his spine. “If it isn’t too much to ask for, that would be wonderful.” 

”Great! Here, write down some specifics so I can get you clothing you’ll wear.” 

Within the hour, you were off on your moped, and in addition to groceries, you found a decent sized thrift shop, where you found clothing for Papyrus. You also purchased some for Sans, though you hadn’t been able to find him before leaving on your short trip for preferences. There was one shirt in particular that you hoped Sans might get a kick out of. Upon your return, with groceries and clothes, you couldn’t help but notice the odd behavior that occurred between Sans and Papyrus.

Papyrus was giving off a cheerful demeanor, as he often did, but it seemed to...falter whenever he interacted with Sans.

Especially right now.

The crooked smile was really laying it on thick today with false cheer, as if Papyrus were waiting for Sans to say or do something.

You didn’t know what Papyrus thought his brother might do, because Sans didn’t seem to notice. He’d been oddly polite to you after the conversation with the judge. But then again, you found that Sans was very hard to read past that empty grin and occasional manic look in his red eye light.

Before the silent awkwardness of Sans staring at you and Papyrus wringing his hands became too much, you pulled out the extra large white t-shirt (that looked customized, to you) and held it out to Sans so he could read the stylized black text.

_’Pun-tastic Punny Man’_

Sans’ dull grin brightened considerably, his smile tugging wide as the large eye light flickered in his socket as he accepted the shirt. He let out a slow chuckle and immediately began stripping off his hoodie and shirt.

Conveniently, you were distracted by Papyrus loud groan.

”Y/n, how could you? Why are you aiding and abetting my brother’s terrible humor?”

“...but i’m a punny guy.” Sans donned his new t-shirt with a lazy grin and a glint in his single eye light. “...no bones about it.”

Papyrus let out a disgusted huff as he stomped off, waving his hands in agitation about horrid taste in clothing, while also thanking you for getting him clothing that fits his frame.

Sans kept the shirt on as he shrugged back into his ragged blue hoodie, a small smile still playing across his teeth.

You couldn't help but laugh when, days later, you were woken by the booming voice of righteous indignation. When you stumbled out of the RV, thinking something was wrong, you instead found Papyrus absolutely scandalized over one of his new shirts being ‘defiled’ with newspaper clippings that spelled out ‘coolest punny bro.’

Papyrus kept the shirt, you noted, when you later went to rummage around in the refrigerator.

There was a sad smile that crossed the monster’s crooked teeth as Papyrus went to store the shirt in a drawer, careful to not tear the paper letters off.


	13. Lost

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sans 3rd POV  
> Addntl tags/warnings: uncertainty of memory, dissociation, self-harm via aggravating old wounds, mild(?) panic, thoughts of violence, assuring oneself of time and place with notebook  
> (some of you wanted to know what the judge wrote in the notebook, so here it is).

The forest was dark.

It wasn’t night yet but it was darker.

A storm was rolling in. 

Sans could feel it coming, even if it would still be a few hours. Sans stared up at the sky through the trees, his thoughts muddled as he took a breath of the humid air.

...why was he in a forest?

Sans was living in an RV with his brother and that human that had picked them up?

Right?

Sans' eye light contracted, looking away from the sky to jerk his skull from side to side as he took in his surroundings. 

Papyrus wasn't with him.

Sans was alone.

...alone.

That was familiar.

Like it had happened before.

But when?

Sans’ hands clenched at his sides, his grin tightening. The red glow of his eye light flickered in its socket, but there wasn’t any sign of his brother, no matter which direction Sans looked.

Had Papyrus been taken away from him?

Was the human leaving him behind, and betraying his brother by handing him over to other humans?

A shout in the distance reached Sans, but the words were too faint for him to hear.

Dead.

The humans were dead.

Had the humans from before that had been chasing them...had they returned? Did they find y/n and take them away with Papyrus, leaving Sans all alone in this forest?

No...

Hadn’t it been y/n taking Papyrus away?

...

Sans’ teeth clenched together hard as he reached up with his hands, a few phalanges hooking into his empty right socket to give it a tug. His other hand aimlessly ran across the hole in his skull, claws scraping across broken bone.

It grated.

Did it hurt?

Maybe.

Sans wouldn’t know, with how he began to wonder what to do with the supposed abduction of his brother. It didn’t matter who took Papyrus from him.

How dare anyone attempt to separate Sans from his brother.

Sans felt his magic building up, the glow of his eye light filling his socket, the black-like pupil a tiny pinpoint. His phalanges dug harder into his socket and damaged skull, a trickle of uneven laughter tumbling forth.

He’d kill them all.

Kill.

Magic built up as Sans attempted to form them into bone constructs. Perhaps a broken gaster blaster. Then, all at once, the magic dissipated as Sans remembered something. His phalanges dropped from his socket and skull injury.

The same unhinged, slow laughter picked up again before it ended abruptly as Sans tilted his skull to the side with a wide grin.

That was right.

He didn't need magic to kill.

He may have done so before, but now he didn’t.

Sans held a hand out and a cleaver appeared in his hand. A wild smile tugged at his teeth. Sans would kill whichever human was responsible for his brother’s disappearance before they knew what hit them.

Papyrus would be safe.

Sans tested the blade of the cleaver, before the tips of his claws moved away as a frown appeared across his teeth.

Something felt off.

Wrong.

The forest was too quiet for the two of them to have been attacked. For Papyrus to be taken away from Sans without him noticing. It would have been much nosier. A cacophony of voices drowning out all coherent thought.

Sans fidgeted with his jacket, the hand not holding the cleaver brushing across his shirt beneath it. Sans traced his claws over the shirt again, then once more. 

This material was softer. 

Better quality and condition than what he had been wearing as a shirt before, and it wasn't stained.

This didn't add up with what he remembered...

Sans reluctantly put the cleaver away and dug out his notebook. Keeping an eye on his surroundings as he flipped to some of the recent pages, Sans’ phalanges slid down along the lines of his shaky handwriting.

_got a new punny shirt._

_paps hates it, so i made one for him._ _he hates it too but i saw that he kept it._

_need to look around the forest._ _it isn't like the area we were at before._

_it’s too quiet._

_not enough animals around._

Sans stared at that entry, some recollection of going into the forest with Papyrus registering. But was that today, or yesterday? Sans paged backwards, and stopped on where his handwriting was much neater. 

Exact and precise.

The Judge's handwriting.

Sans' eye light settled on what the Judge had written about y/n.

_Y/N_

_Soul is [color], [trait]_

_LV 1, no EXP_

_Does not have the intent to harm you or your brother._

Sans' eye light dropped to the series of lines that followed, and it made his soul flutter in both confusion and perhaps hope. It was harder for Sans to recognize the latter, as the years had passed by with little of it to go around in the underground.

_While there is talk of soulmates in our world, it hasn't been proven to truly exist._ _There are, however, monsters whose_ _souls are drawn to one another, like those stories, though it is rare._ _A resonance of souls that draws souls together. A balance in one's life, it fills in small spaces of the soul where another soul is needed._

_In other words..._

_Sans._

_As the Judge, I too advise you (us) to not kill the human._ _It is rare for a soul to be so drawn to another in this life._ _You (we) are allowed to be happy, despite our job, and whatever trials you (_ _we) have experienced._

_That being said, trust takes time._

_I’d say be yourself, but that’d be redundant, seeing as we are the same person. If there’s anything you want me to say to the human that for whatever reason you won’t, write it down. I can’t say if or when I can be called on again._

_One last thing:_

_Don’t screw this up._

Sans' grin tugged into one of amusement.

It was weird to argue or scold himself, and to have himself, as the Judge, offer to be a peacemaker between himself and y/n, despite that not being in the job description.

Sans was going to get a headache again.

With the way he was now, the Judge may as well be a different monster than Sans, instead of a part of himself. 

Funny that the Judge was encouraging Sans to get close to the human. But Sans wasn't entirely sure that he would allow it past being semi-pleasant, so as to not upset Papyrus.

And the Judge, apparently.

Threatening y/n with his cleaver had not come without consequences, and Sans didn’t forget the pained expression Papyrus had worn while they had fought. Sans hadn’t raised his cleaver against y/n after that. Not with the meeting Papyrus and y/n had had with the Judge. Sans had been fairly polite and behaved toward y/n the past few days.

Weeks?

Sans’ soul fluttered again, thinking about the idea of continuing to interact with the human, instead of finding a safe haven and sending y/n on their way. It was too soon to think of having the human take them to...

No.

It was definitely too soon to say.

Sans couldn’t trust his own memory without checking his notes. He wouldn’t say anything to potentially endanger himself, Papyrus or the other monsters.

Growling under his breath, Sans shut the notebook and put it away.

Damn Judge, thinking he knew what was truth.

Sans let out a slow laugh. He supposed this just meant he knew himself well, even if he couldn’t remember the times of using the Judge’s magic any longer. It was now a blank time where there was an inkling of awareness but not enough to understand what he was saying.

Not moments after storing the notebook, Papyrus came bursting out of the undergrowth, magic pulsing uneasily.

”...heya, bro.” Sans greeted, relieved the cleaver was out of sight. He didn’t want it confiscated again. But his worry was quelled at the sight of his brother. Sans shoved his hands into his pockets.

Papyrus was all right.

He was safe.

”You disappeared on me for two hours, brother.” Papyrus said, stopping alongside Sans to squint down at him. “Y/n and I were quite concerned. There is going to be a downpour here in a few hours, and I do not want you to be caught outside in it.”

”...better go back then.” Sans said, keeping his trembling hands tucked deeply into his pockets.

”Yes...let’s go back.” Papyrus observed Sans for a moment, before carefully leading the way. “We’re making spaghetti! And I, the great Papyrus, will be overseeing this meal!”

Sans trailed after Papyrus, a serene smile back in place. If he was troubled on the inside about what to do about the pull his soul felt the closer he got to the RV, Sans kept it to himself. What he didn’t know was that Papyrus was more perceptive than he let on.

“I stand by what I said before! Everything will be all right! Y/n is a good person, brother! You’ll see!”

Sans let out a noncommittal grunt at that.

So far y/n did seem to be good. The Judge didn’t think y/n would hurt him or Papyrus but Sans needed to see for himself that everything would be ‘all right.’ Sans felt that nothing was guaranteed to be ‘all right,’ especially not on the surface.

”Nearly there, Sans!”

Another hum of agreement.

Sans idly wondered if he might be willing to stick around to see if this luck they’d found with y/n lasted. Papyrus was certainly happy, and that was enough of a reason for Sans to stay and see what came of this all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To surmise:  
> Judge Sans: That's our human. Our soul is drawn to them.  
> Sans: (that meme with the butterfly, where instead of potential friendship/relationship he goes): Is this human going to betray me and my bro?  
> Judge Sans >:/   
> Did I mcfcking stutter?
> 
> (On an unrelated note-I discovered there’s a dark mode for mobile-for html editing, at least-wonder if it works for desktop too. That’d be fantastic).


	14. Share

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Additional tags/warnings:  
> -Oh look at that some angst worked its way in.  
> -monsters can sense when a soul is in turmoil if they focus on that specific soul.  
> -Some sad (?) fluff and hugs  
> -realization of being touch starved

It was a tense few hours for you, waiting for Papyrus to return with his brother. The storm was about to hit, and while you rationally knew they’d be fine, considering they’d survived out in the wilds without easy access to shelter, you felt anxious for them to get back to the RV. 

Sans hadn’t seemed...all there.

It hadn’t helped that Papyrus sounded nervous about Sans being out in the forest all on his own, again, before his boisterous nature swung back in. The large monster had assured you that he would be swift in tracking his brother down, because he knew that Sans didn’t appreciate getting too much rain in the hole of his skull injury.

You puttered around in the kitchen, and the closer the storm came to your area, the more you began to fidget. According to the weather channel on in the background on the TV, it was going to be a doozy of a storm.

Heavy rainfall, potential for large hail, and high wind gusts.

No tornado warnings as of yet, for which you were grateful. You weren’t even sure if the sound of a tornado alarm would reach where you were so deep in a forest.

“WE’RE BACK, Y/N!” Papyrus called from outside, entering the RV just as the rain began to fall harder.

“Hi, welcome back.” You turned and saw that the large monster was carrying his brother in his arms, and Sans appeared to be dozing. “Is...he okay?”

”Nothing to be too concerned with. He seems to have just worn himself out wandering around.” Papyrus plopped Sans down on the left side of the couch, pulling off the jacket that he’d shielded Sans with from the rain. This meant that Papyrus’ clothing were soaked. “If you will excuse me, I need to dry off and get some new clothes on.” 

Making sure the front door of the RV was firmly shut, as well as the windows, you turned back to the small counter. While waiting for the monsters to return, you’d made some snacks, so you brought some snacks on not often used platters to set on the coffee table. You went about making some hot chocolate, and poured it into mugs. You figured this gave Papyrus enough time to have some privacy to change out of his soaked clothing. Once the mugs were filled, you brought them carefully over to the coffee table, and focused on Sans.

The monster had since removed his hoodie, hands clasped beneath his ribs over his shirt. The pun-shirt that he refused to take off apart from when Papyrus insisted he clean it. Sans had his good socket cracked open, red eye light watching you.

“Lazybones.” You teased, realizing that he’d feigned slumber so that he could be carried.

“...guilty.” Sans cracked a grin. “but paps already knew i was fakin’ it.” With a slow sigh, Sans sat up and quietly looked over the array of snacks and the warm beverages. A few minutes passed, before he looked up at you, his hands restlessly clenching his shirt. “...another picnic?”

”An indoor one, I suppose.” You said with a shrug. “It is closer to dinnertime, but I figured it would be nice to just have some snacks first and well...do monsters need to warm up when it’s cool and rainy?”

”...temperature doesn’t affect skeleton monsters as much.” Sans eyed the food again before he looked up at you.

Was Sans waiting for you to eat, or was he wondering if it was all right for him to eat the snacks? There were three of you, so you’d put out extra food, knowing that the monsters would eat what you didn’t. Plus, there were three mugs of cocoa.

When Papyrus lingered in the back of the RV, humming distractedly over his small clothing collection, you decided to approach the couch. You tried to not show any wariness as you sat, figuring that if you helped yourself to some snacks, Sans would too.

Sans watched you eat some crackers and cheese, and slowly, he piled a plate with various offerings of salty snacks and picked at it idly with the tips of his claws.

Knowing what he wanted to do, you turned your gaze to the mugs, and out of your peripheral, you caught Sans parting his teeth and dumping all the food on the plate inside.

It was surprising to you that the food didn’t just go right through Sans.

When you leaned back with mug in hand, Sans had some more snacks on his plate, and was popping them past slightly parted teeth one by one. 

A silence stretched out between the two of you.

Papyrus was taking a rather long time to change. It wasn’t like him to take so long but with the continued humming, you figured the larger monster was just fine. But you figured Papyrus would join the two of you when he was ready. 

That was fine.

Right now, you found that Sans was a rather nice companion to sit with in that silence.

The rain began to fall heavier against the outside of the RV.

You were relieved that Sans had more or less stopped staring at you creepily for the time being. Though you weren’t sure what to make of the way he cocked his skull to the side.

Was he...blind in the empty right eye socket? The way Sans almost twisted his skull to the side to better meet your eyes made you wonder.

”Do you want to change spots on the couch?” You asked, setting your mug down. “I don’t want you to feel like you have to crane your head like that to look at me.”

Sans was quiet for a moment. You caught the widening of his grin as he came to some internal decision. Quick as a flash, Sans reached over and scooped you up into his arms.

”Stars!” You exclaimed, before you burst into laughter as Sans scooted across the couch to the right side, with you held easily in his arms. “I could have just stood up.”

”...s’fine. you’re lightweight to me.” Sans let you slide out of his arms and into the spot he’d just been occupying.

“You are ridiculous.” You said, still laughing a little, your heart racing. Inwardly, you’d panicked that this monster had just picked you up so quickly and with such ease. Then, you’d seen the cheerful grin that Sans’ teeth were set in, and the panic faded. It was absolutely unnecessary to lift someone up and hold them to move across a piece of furniture, only to set them right back down.

...

But it hadn’t bothered you. Did that mean you’d wanted to be held for a little longer? It had been unexpected but...kind of nice to be so close to someone. It didn’t even matter that it’d been a monster holding you.

That got you thinking.

...when was the last time you’d been given a hug? It had to have been sometime before you had embarked on your three year and counting road trip.

”...you okay?” Sans asked suddenly. His tone was...off, as if he were distracted, but in a different way than when he’d been staring off into the distance that morning.

”Hm what?” You asked ineloquently, turning to face the skeleton. You held perfectly still as a large phalange carefully brushed your cheek and that was when you realized-

Oh.

You were crying?

”I‘ll be all right.” You said, avoiding eye contact with the single red light raptly watching you. “It’s just...being picked up like that reminded me that it’s been years since I was last hugged by someone.”

There was an intake of air, then a slow breath out before the six foot something skeleton was suddenly, if hesitantly, pressed to your side.

“...this...okay?” Sans left hand twitched against his femur, almost as if he wanted to lift his arm up to wrap around your shoulders.

”Yeah, it’s okay.” You lapsed into silence, feeling the solid bones pressed to your side even through the clothing, and the slow rise and fall of the monster’s ribs. You stared out the nearest window at the gray sky. The sound of the pouring rain began to lull you into a light doze. During the half unconscious state, you felt something soft, like a blanket, being wrapped around you, and a low murmur of voices that were Papyrus and Sans speaking to one another.

Almost as if in a dream, it felt as though you were picked up and brought to rest on Sans’ lap, your head limp against his sternum. The last vestiges of awareness fled as you fell asleep to a low thrumming sound of something like a heart beat, but not.

Sleep became a place of warmth instead of unease and hopelessness.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Papyrus, intentionally taking a long time to change his clothes: AUDIBLE WINK (at Sans).  
> Judge!Sans, somewhere in Sans’ psyche: *throws hands up* Don’t just hug the human when they’re unconscious!
> 
> FYI: I am trying to figure out how to go about chapters 16-25 of this fic. It is going to be directly affected by how often judge!Sans makes an appearance, and I’m split on whether or not to have him be a bigger part of some chapters (he’s still Sans just, a different part of him). 
> 
> If any of you have a strong opinions/thoughts on that, let me know, either here or over on my tumblr account (under the same name as here).


	15. Hugs

When you woke the next morning, you were lying on the couch, bundled up in a blanket.

Had you...done that?

You looked around as you sat up, absently working on freeing yourself. 

Sans was sprawled on the floor of the RV alongside the couch, chest rising and falling slowly, his good socket closed.

Asleep.

It did seem dark out but that could just be the storm that was still raging on outside.

”Y/n?”

“Hm?” Half freed from being wrapped up in a blanket, you raised your head when Papyrus shuffled over to the couch. There were tears streaming down his cheekbones. Alarmed, you kicked the blankets away from yourself and slid off the couch, careful to not step on the slumbering Sans. “Are you okay? Did something happen?” You let out a startled gasp as Papyrus reached over and wrapped his arms around you, pulling you close into an unmistakable hug.

”Sans informed me that you have not experienced a hug in years!” Papyrus hoisted you up in his arms and buried his skull against your shoulder awkwardly, patting your back. “I cannot even imagine being unable to receive platonic hugs from those I care about!” 

As suddenly as the hug occurred, you were set back down on your feet as Papyrus struck what appeared to be a heroic pose, one hand to his chest.

”I, the great Papyrus, will make certain that you receive as many platonic friendship hugs as you desire!”

Had you really been missing the simple action of just hugging someone without anything being expected of in return?

You felt oddly choked up and since Papyrus appeared to be waiting for you to say something, you managed a quiet murmur of thanks.

”Nyeh heh! Of course! What kind of friend would I be if I can’t offer superb hugs?” Papyrus squinted his sockets down at Sans before he patted your shoulder and retreated to the back of the RV again.

What was that about?

You let out a gasp as a tug from somewhere inside of you brought you down to the floor, where you ended up lying alongside Sans. 

The red eye light stared at you.

”Your brother is a pretty cool guy.” You said, not sure what else to say. But it was apparently just the right thing to say because Sans’ blank expression became fond, a small smile present.

”...my bro is pretty cool.” Sans let his skull loll to the side to better stare at you. “...been a long time since i heard him laugh.”

You didn’t say anything of the way Sans was suddenly sneaking closer to you inch by inch across the floor until his side was pressed up to your own. His hand twitched restlessly against your own but Sans didn’t do anything other then roll his skull back up to stare at the ceiling.

“Sans?”

”...yeah?” Sans kept his gaze on the ceiling, expression empty once more.

”I...wanted to let you know that I’m happy to have you and your brother stay with me as long as you’d like.” You were pretty sure you’d offered this before but you weren’t entirely certain Sans had taken the words in. His hand twitched against your own again, and Sans almost seemed to press harder to your side.

Was Sans...

You cautiously slipped your hand into Sans’ larger one.

Sans jerked like he hadn’t expected this before he relaxed, and his bony fingers cautiously curled around your hand and held on.

Was Sans...lonely like you had been? Did he miss being around other monsters than just his own brother? Surely he at least got those platonic friendship hugs from Papyrus but maybe...being near you, it seemed like Sans wanted to turn and pull you against him. His hand was certainly holding on as if he were afraid of losing the connection.

...

Had you imagined Sans holding you on his lap when you’d fallen asleep earlier?

You couldn’t remember.

“Is this...okay with you?” You moved your hand within Sans’ own.

”...s’fine.”

You lie there for an undetermined amount of time, and you must have dozed off because when you came to again, there was a blanket draped over you and a pillow under your head.

Papyrus was preparing some meal in the small kitchen nearby, and Sans was nowhere to be seen. 

“Ah, good afternoon, y/n! Lunch should be ready soon, and if you are curious as to my brother’s whereabouts, he currently doing his best to drown himself in the shower.” Papyrus waved a spatula through the air. “He’ll be fine. It’s likely he got some leaves inside of his skull if he’s willingly dunking his head under a steady stream of water.” Papyrus winked a small socket at you. “It could also have to do with him waking and realizing he was holding hands with someone.”

You tugged the blanket over your head.

Why were you blushing?

Sure, Sans had held your hand but that didn’t mean anything, since monsters were reportedly friendly amongst friends.

Right?

”Sans! Have you gotten those leaves out of your skull that I don’t recall falling into your skull in the first place?”

You let out a snort of laughter over Sans’ muffled agreement that at the same time almost sounded like a groan.

”You two are going to be a handful.” Papyrus fretted, taking out some plates. “I do hope that I don’t need the judge to come back out to make anyone see reason...”

  
-x-x-x-

  
Awkward situations aside, you found that it was surprisingly easy for you to fit your roaming lifestyle with Sans and Papyrus. Both monsters helped out around the small living space (Papyrus more than Sans) and any meal time was fun because of all the recipes Papyrus was eager to try out.

It was a comfortable shift in your life and you wondered how you were able to live by yourself for over three years without anyone else.

It just figured that it would be other humans who disrupted your life again, even though you were just minding your own business.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh boy, just a reminder that the next chapter is when shit starts to go down (and where the reader starts to learn just what’s going on with monsters).


	16. Hostility

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow, did I ever have fun with this chapter. Probably one of my favorites so far, especially by the end of it, solely for the bad joke.
> 
> Additional tags/warnings:  
> \- cliche(?) of people screaming at big scary monster in the woods  
> -Sans and Papyrus temporarily separated due to those above people, and then again later b/c someone spotted Sans  
> -gun violence later on, but just shots fired-there are no injuries

Four months of peace and quiet living with two monsters fell apart days after you reached your third destination, a tranquil snowy  expanse filled with pine trees and rocky areas that slanted up toward mountains in the distance.

You’d let yourself become too comfortable running off through the trees with Papyrus for your morning runs. It didn’t even occur to you to worry over the monster potentially being seen by other humans hiking or something m, until it happened.  


It completely slipped your mind that most humans’ reaction to an 8 foot plus monster in motion was to scream.

Loudly.

Luckily for both you and Papyrus, it didn’t look like you were traveling together, so he veered off to duck behind some of the conifers. You heard his low murmur.

”I’ll come find you and Sans when things have settled down. Don’t worry about me.”  


The moment Papyrus was out of sight, the human couple that had come across you ushered you all back to the camping site you were parked at. After some reassurances to the worried couple, you agreed to leave to alert authorities while they waited here for someone to arrive, to make sure they could get back to their vehicle safely. 

You’d do no such thing but the couple didn’t need to know that. They hopefully wouldn’t remember your plate number, since you really did not want trouble following along after you. Carefully maneuvering your RV out of its space (a month sooner than planned) you drove across a patch of icy road leading out to a highway.

It was fine.

This was fine.

Nothing to worry about.

You hoped.

Sans kept to the enclosed space in the back of the RV, to avoid anyone on the road from seeing him through the front of the RV windows. The drive was tense but you felt that nothing was out of the ordinary of you driving your RV along a highway with icy, snowy road conditions.

Neither you nor Sans spoke to one another when you stopped in parking lots to eat lunch and dinner over the course of the next few hours. But it was concerning to watch Sans pick at the hole in his skull or hook fingers inro his empty right eye socket while mumbling something.

You slept terribly that night, thinking you were going to be surrounded by cop cars any moment.

The next day, there weren’t the imagined police cars surrounding your RV. You and Sans were safe, for now, and you hoped that Papyrus was too.

Two days later, Sans was pacing the length of the RV, his magic cracking and sparking to life, his fists clenching and unclenching restlessly. You presume that Papyrus had somehow gotten into contact with Sans, and this was why the other monster hadn’t left your RV in search of his brother yet.

Three days later, you were concerned by the fact that Papyrus hadn’t turned up on the outskirts of places that you parked, specifically to allow him to show up unnoticed.  


He didn’t.

Four days later, and Sans refused to let you out of his sight, even while you drove through snowy conditions, the monster hunkering down behind the front seat you sat on.

Five days, and you found Sans lying in the king sized bed with you when you went to bed. His larger frame curled around you as he held you close. You didn’t know what to make of this behavior, but he didn’t do anything other than keep an arm wrapped around your middle. Well, Sans also nuzzled his nasal ridge against your neck briefly before his breathing slowed into what you presumed was slumber.

Six days, and Sans wouldn’t let go of your hand without convincing him that other humans driving by might see him, and that you needed both hands on the wheel to drive. Sans spent any time you weren’t driving plastered snugly to your side, his arm wrapped around your waist to keep you close. It was as if Sans thought you would leave him all alone in the RV if he didn’t have a hand on you to prevent that.

One week after the couple had seen Papyrus and you in the woods, you were worried and frankly, angry, that somehow, someway, a passerby must have seen Sans. Because there was no other reason for there to be such a distressing amount of cop cars following along after your RV with their lights and sirens.

There was no way you were going to out-speed them.

The only good thing was that they were far behind you on the road, but you trusted your gut that told you someone had told the authorities you’d been seen with monsters. There was no other reason for there to be so many. Plus, you were the only other vehicle on the road right now.

News travelled fast.

This wasn’t good.

You really didn’t want to be cornered in your RV. The idea of being taken to jail and brought up on charges over helping monsters was not your idea of a good time. Especially when neither Sans nor Papyrus had actually done any harm to you.

...

You supposed that Sans had threatened you but you’d already forgiven him for that. You knew that anti-monster propaganda had looked bad and you were just grateful that whole mess had been resolved. That and speaking with the judge seemed to have made Sans more relaxed around you. He’d even been downright clingy this past week and you chalked that up to him missing his brother. And before, you found him lurking nearby, as if enjoying just being close to you.

”...what’re you doing?” Sans asked from behind where you were seated on. 

“I hope that Papyrus is nearby.” You said as you guided the RV onto the emergency pull off on the highway. As soon as the RV was in park and turned off, you dressed as quickly as you could in your winter coat, boots, hat, scarf and gloves. You ran to the back of the RV, and seized a backpack from beneath the bed, and carried it back to where Sans was standing in the small kitchen area, watching you.

”...y/n?”

It was a shame you had to be paranoid about people reacting badly to you potentially helping monsters at some point, but you were relieved that all your important items were in one place to be picked up at a moment’s notice.

“We need to lose the police that are gaining on us as we speak, or I’m going to end up in jail for helping you and Papyrus.” You told the monster.

”...okay.” Sans didn’t even question you. He just took your backpack from your hands, and put it in his inventory. He gave the fridge a long look before he tore it open and piled the monster food into his inventory, followed by shelf stable food from the the cupboards. Once done, Sans closed the cupboard and fridge before he turned to you, holding his hand out. “...take ‘em off for a sec.”

”But it’s cold out?” You said of your winter coat and other items.

Sans stood silently, watching you with his eye light, hand still held out.

With a sigh, you handed off all your winter coat and other effects.

Once Sans put the last item away into the dimensional box, he let out a sigh and walked to the front door, opening it and stepping out. His eye light blazed bright crimson as he caught sight of what was coming toward both of you.

As you reluctantly exited and closed the door of the RV, you grimaced as your socks got wet from the snow. Then, Sans suddenly seized your arm and led you quickly toward the nearby woods.

By now, the flashing lights and sirens were close, and muffled, distant shouts could be heard as you ran and stumbled. You might have questioned why Sans was being so careless with you when you realized that he was attempting to...make it look like he was kidnapping you?

Maybe?

Was that why he insisted that you give him your winter clothes, and have you run out in a thin sweater, jeans and socks? To give you plausible deniability, if the two of you were overtaken by the police?

There was an increase in panicked shouts, and even a stray gun shot that ricocheted off a nearby tree.

Too close.

The reason for the sudden panic wasn’t just Sans leading you off (likely looking like he was abducting you) but because when he let go of your arm, someone else abruptly scooped you up in their arms.  


Someone very, very tall, his bones rattling within his thick red sweater.

Papyrus.

The relief that he was okay was overshadowed by your pursuers.  


Though you doubted that anyone could see you clearly from as far back as the police appeared to be, you pretended to pass out, resting your head against Papyrus’ chest. It was a bit uncomfortable, due to being jostled while gently bumping your head against his sternum. From this angle, though, you could see that Sans was actually jogging at his brother’s side to keep pace with the taller monster, hands in his hoodie’s pockets. You muffle a scream by pressing your face to Papyrus’ chest over the sound of guns being fired, the startling crack of the bullets mixed in with all of the shouting and noise of pursuit.

”That was not the most graceful of exits, brother.” Papyrus commented, picking up his pace. “And the human is terribly underdressed.”

”...wasn’t gonna let them get too close to us.” Sans glanced over his shoulder, his eye light brightening again before he looked forward and moved a little quicker, despite his hitches in breath. “...need to trick the other humans if they catch up to us.”

”And this requires y/n to shiver in the cold? What plan needs such things?” Papyrus sighed at the sight of Sans struggling to keep up with him. “And you are out of shape! You should have joined y/n and I on our friendship runs and workouts, instead of napping!” 

“...told you, paps, y/n needed to-“

”I know, brother.” Papyrus patted you back reassuringly, as though to let you know everything would be okay. The pat was done in a way that would not be noticeable to those in pursuit. “I still think you should have just wrapped y/n in a blanket, if you insisted on making it look like as though you were kidnapping them, so they could be warm while we make this mad dash for our continued freedom.”  


The bullets wizzing by all three of you said that things might not be as fine as Papyrus seemed to hope they would be. But you said nothing and merely clung to Papyrus’ scarf as he and Sans raced through the snow, deeper into the woods and the mountainous range ahead.

Papyrus looked to be doing some quick thinking about how to go about having the humans coming after all three of you lose your trail.

“...can manage traveling with y/n. hunt n’ make a fire. hide out of sight for awhile.” Sans’ voice was calm and steady as he raised his skull to meet his brother’s sockets, after they’d skillfully slid down a long slope and darted behind a line of trees. “...you wanna give them a run around, s’long as they don’t catch you?” 

“Are you sure you’d be okay with me gone for a longer amount of time?”  


You could tell that Papyrus was reluctant to part with Sans again so soon, as he set you down in the snow.

It was cold.

”...yeah. m’good.” Sans restlessly looked around the snowy wooded area. “...feels like home, back when times were good.”

”I meant will _you_ be fine, brother? Your memory...” Papyrus wrung his hands together worriedly, skull swinging back to face the way all three of you had come.

The shouting was getting louder, but out of sight for the time being.

”...the judge will come out if it gets...bad.” Sans said vaguely. His smile was blank, the creases of his sockets pinched, eye light flickering. “...won’t fall back into...old habits. there’s enough game in and around mountains.”

You saw worry crease Papyrus’ brown bone but he didn’t press the matter further.

”Then I guess there isn’t more to say until we meet again.” Papyrus said, briskly stepping over to Sans to lean over to give him a tight hug. “Try to take care of yourself when watching out for y/n?”

Sans uttered a few words that sounded nonsensical to you, but they seemed to ease the tension in Papyrus’ shoulders.

”As much as it would pain me to do so, I will do my old job from the underground that we gave ourselves when things went...terribly wrong.” Papyrus’ smile wavered as he stepped away from Sans, before he stooped to wrap you in a hug as well, his voice a low murmur. “Please keep my brother in your sights at all times. He’ll make sure you’re safe.”

Before you could say anything to that, Papyrus was jogging off in the opposite direction, briefly turning on his heel to fix Sans with the most serious look you’d ever seen on the normally cheerful monster.

”Promise me that you’ll be okay. That you will let the judge come out if things necessitate his presence.”

“...promise, paps.” Sans had a serious look of his own when you looked at him. The red of his eye light was smaller, not taking up as much space in his socket. “...we’ll come find you when the activity has died down.” 

Papyrus hesitated, before he nodded, and silently disappeared into the flurry of snow and surrounding pine trees.

“...hey.” Sans took your hand in his own and held it firmly, but not painfully.   


You grasped at his hand in return, the fright and fear of being shot at returning tenfold, making your breaths come in shakily.

”...what did the butcher say to the crow that was watching him work?” 

“I-“ You gasp as Sans hefted you up into his arms, and held you tightly to his chest, his claws digging firmly into your sweater. “W-what?”  


“...crowing over the view?”

”Sans.” You groaned, face buried in his hoodie as you heard him let out a slow chuckle at your reaction.   
  
“...time for us to disappear.”

The world fell out from beneath you, briefly taking your breath away, but not enough to continue to feel almost physically pained at how terrible the joke had been.  


It was dark and then it was snowy, the world righting itself in an instant.

What...

What had just happened?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Everyone will be okay in the end but prepare yourself for some angst mixed in with fluff over the next ten chapters, along with forthcoming info about the monsters on the surface.


	17. Vanish

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Gotta get safe and warm (cozy) before the inevitable questions and the ‘what do we do now?’ begin.

What had just happened? 

Somehow, you and Sans were no longer at the base of the mountain in the woods, but somewhere halfway up, and Sans was doing his best to to get you out of the cold. His arms were holding you close to his chest, as though he could keep you warm through sheer intention to do so.

As nice of a thought that was, the cold and the wind wasn’t making it easy for you to keep warm while underdressed in the dead of winter.

Sans trudged along a rocky path, carefully picking his way through areas that appeared impassable, while avoiding slipping down a sheer drop to a lower area of the mountainside.

You carefully did not look after you saw how far a fall it would be. 

It was still incredibly cold.

Numbing.

Sans noted your shivers partway though his determined search for...something, and unzipped his jacket to partially tuck you beneath his jacket, along with the blanket wrapped around you.

The thought, again, was nice and all, but wearing more layers would help a whole lot more. A sharp gust of cold wind prompted you to speak.

“Sans? Can I have my winter clothes back now?” You asked. Your teeth were chattering together as another gust of wind hit you.

”...gimme a sec.” Sans murmured, slowing to a halt when he apparently found what he was looking for. The monster stared at the wall of rock in front of him for a moment, before taking a deep breath and letting it out. Sans stepped quite a distance away, and for good reason. 

You did not expect to see the return of those weird floating dragon skulls so soon. Neither did you expect to see their maws drop open to gather a bright beam of light. Magic crackled in the air, and the skull dragons shot those beams of light into the side of the mountain, piecing through the rock as if it weren’t there. The beams began to carve a hole, making an entrance into the mountain.

”...s’okay.” Sans gently pat your back, his attention on the dragon skulls and the rock falling inward instead of out in front of the two of you.

Or maybe the rock was just being blasted out of existence, as there didn’t seem to be any debris falling to the ground.

“...need to make it a bigger space since i’m gonna have to hide the opening.” There was a hitch in Sans’ otherwise steady breathing.

The unexpected noise caused you to take a peek up at the monster, where you found that Sans’ skull was beading with...sweat (magic?). His grin was strained at the edges.

“...there.” Sans exhaled wearily a minute later, inspecting the entrance he’d made in the rocks as the floating skulls vanished. “...didn’t think i had it in me. heh.”

Your shivering returned tenfold when Sans suddenly set you down on your feet, while you were still wearing wet socks that no doubt were slowly freezing. 

That wasn’t good.

You needed to warm up.

”Sans.”

”...go in. m’gonna finish up out here.”

Warily, you stepped into the dark cavern that Sans had made, arms hugging yourself as you shivered. You slowed to a halt, standing in the dark. You couldn’t see how wide, tall or deep this cavern went, so you just waited for Sans to join you.

It was so cold.

Sans grunted some words that were too quiet to make out, but whatever it was he had done plunged the cavern into complete darkness with a rocky sounding thud.

Your heart leapt in fright. You didn’t dare move one way or another, not knowing if there were any sharp rocks underfoot. Why hadn’t you thought about that earlier? The fear you felt in your current situation unfortunately extended to the single red eye light that approached you in the darkness.

”...why’re you just standing there?” Sans sounded genuinely confused.

The fear ebbed down to the darkness around you.

”Humans can’t see in the dark.” You managed to get out, shivering involuntarily. “We also don’t do so well in cold and wet clothing.” 

There was a flash of something overhead.

Several somethings.

Then, there was a clatter a short distance from you, followed by the sparking embers of a fire.

”...put some holes in the ceiling for the smoke to clear out of.” Sans muttered, before you could point out potential asphyxiation in a cavern without proper airflow. “...shouldn’t be enough to draw any attention.”

It took your eyes time to adjust to the gloom of the cavern, but the light and warmth of the fire broke you out of your shivering posture. When Sans pulled out a blanket and laid it out on the ground near the fire, you gladly sat down on it. You were quick to remove your freezing socks, setting them near the fire in an effort to dry them out. Then, you tugged the blanket up over your feet and rubbed the soft material at them to make sure they were dry. Between the fire you now sat beside and the blanket, you should be able to warm up, especially when your winter clothes were returned.

Sans hummed absently to himself as he built up the fire. Once he was satisfied with it, Sans pulled out your winter clothes from the dimensional box and handed them over. 

You fumbled into the warm clothing, but left the boots off until you could feel your feet a little better. You accepted a pair of socks from Sans that were not your own, and tugged them on.

That was a little better.

”...humans are fragile.” Sans muttered from beside you. “...didn’t think about temperature extremes...”

You didn’t get the chance to respond, because Sans was busily tucking the blanket around the lower half of your body before he lifted you up. The monster sat himself on the ground and settled you onto his lap. Sans’ skull leaned over you to rest the bottom of his jaw on top of your hat covered head head, his arms wrapping around your middle.

Was he...

What was that rumbling sound? It was coming from inside Sans’ chest. His...rib cage?

”Are you okay?” You asked, not entirely sure what to make of Sans’ recent increased silent insistence to be so close to you.

”...mhm.” Sans intoned unhelpfully.

“Cold?” You asked a different question, not sure if you’d get a response to this either.

”...nah. goes right through me.” 

“Because you’re all bones.” You snorted at that and tried again. ”How’d we get so high up in the mountains so quickly?”

”...shortcut.” 

You thought about that cryptic response and decided to leave asking questions alone for now. You were shivering a little less than before and the huge surge of adrenaline from earlier had left, making you feel worn out.

”...you can rest.” Sans angled his skull down and to the side to nuzzle your cheek with his cheekbone. “...m’not sensing anyone nearby.”

There were another couple of questions that rose from Sans’ actions but for right now, you took the offer. Snuggling further down in your warm clothes and the second blanket that came out of nowhere, you felt Sans resettle his jaw on top of your head.

With the fire crackling and popping nearby to provide warmth, you closed your eyes and began to doze off.

One of Sans’ hands reached up to pet over the hat you wore, as if he wanted to comb fingers through your hair. He was humming to himself again.

It was a relaxing motion, even if those claws might have been concerning to you months ago. But they were gentle as they slid past the hat and down the back of your neck, where the large hand rested. The bone surprisingly warm against your skin.

”...s’okay.” Sans rumbled a few minutes later. “...i’ll keep watch and make sure the fire doesn’t die down. you’re safe.”

But were you really?

Were either of you safe? Hidden away in a cavern made by laser spewing dragon skulls?

Had anyone seen those blasts?

Heard it?

Technically, you shouldn’t feel safe, trapped in a cave with someone.

But because it was Sans, and Papyrus had told you that his brother would keep you safe, you believed him. You were safer than you were before, anyway, when being carried through the woods with bullets flying by. You opened your eyes to give the rocky ceiling above you a way look.

”...there won’t be a cave in.” Sans’ voice was low, comforting, as if sensing your concern. The tips of his fingers were carefully tracing soothing patterns against your skin. “...wake you up if something happens?”

You were already slipping off past a doze, finally warm again as you fell asleep to the sound of Sans’ soft rattle-rumble from where your head rested against his sternum.

It was like Sans was purring, if that purr was a deep rattle of bone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Shh let me continue to have purring skeles in my fics.  
> Sans is totally content at the moment, having provided warmth and shelter to the reader while also getting in some prime time cuddles to boot.


	18. Truth

Bad jokes and good company of a mostly quiet monster made time spent in the cavern pass by quickly.

It was a nice respite, after being chased.

Sans took looking after you seriously. The fire never got too low, and the two of you always had something to eat. Sans started to fidget and pace restlessly when the supplies he’d taken from your RV and put into his inventory began to dwindle as time passed. When Sans wasn’t pacing or otherwise occupied staring at the ceiling or walls of the cavern, he made sure to take the time to cuddle with you to be certain you kept warm when you slept.

It was oddly nice, to be doted on, and much different from living alone for so long. To be taken care of without being looked at with suspicion for your roving lifestyle choice or your opinions on monsters. But as interesting as this experience was, you felt like you ought to see just how long Sans was planning on having the two of you live in the cavern.

You didn’t get the chance to ask, however, because the next time you opened your eyes, it was because you were shivering.

”i was hoping to get out of the weather before you woke.” The voice was calm. Even and unhurried. “humans do not do well in this kind of weather, if i recall correctly from the writing in my notebook.”

That voice...it was Sans, but not?

You stared up at Sans. His skull was carefully turning to and fro to survey the surrounding area as he walked, all while carrying you.

Oh. 

His eye light.

It was a hazy white light.

Sans was...the judge right now?

But why?

You thought Papyrus had said that it was a toss up of whether or not the judge could be called on.

So why now?

And how?

”you okay there, kiddo?”

”I am an adult.” You replied immediately.

That caused the monster to smile before Sans’ expression became pensive again.

“I’m all right, I guess? I just wasn’t expecting to wake up and find myself outside.” You managed to make eye contact when Sans looked down at you again. “You’re the judge right now?”

”yes.”

”What happened?” You found yourself lightly grasping Sans’ hoodie.

“humans happened. they appear to have been able to track my magic signatures. which one, i cannot say.” Sans said, his voice unhurried and calm. He appeared eerily unperturbed about being hunted down. “i was in the process of moving us away from the area. some of the humans words...it sounded like they were setting explosives. i did not know what they had planned and consulting the notebook did not allow me any insight.” 

”The notebook?” You’d seen him write in it before. Then the rest of Sans’ words sunk in. “Wait. Explosives? They were going to _blow up_ the cavern we were in to get to us? What if they caused a cave in?” Didn’t the humans that had seen Sans carry you off still believe you were being held against your will? Or was it not meant to be that big of an explosion? At least Sans didn’t stick around to see what happened and got the both of you out of there.

Sans continued to speak on, unaware of your inner worries.

”yes. the notebook. as i said before, we are the same person. however, with the injury, it made a deep fissure in our memory. ordinarily i would remember everything i have done, including times of a judgment, but after the injury, that magic...the judge’s magic, and this part of myself, became foreign and inaccessible by normal means. and due to this, i must consult the notebook to see what has passed that i can no longer see. but there were no mentions of explosives, so i must not have seen them before.” Sans tilted his skull down as he carried the two of you down a slope near the base of the mountain. “i am not entirely certain how i was able to be brought forth, apart from sheer will to not cause a scene in front of you, had those other humans breached the cavern and entered it with us still inside.”

”A scene?” You asked. “What would you have done?”

”had those humans entered the cavern, i would have killed them, if i believed them to be a danger to you.” The monster responded, his calm visage at odds with his words. “i do not do well when others threaten those i care about. it appears, at this point in time, for it to be pure luck that the judge was called forward.” Sans rolled a shoulder in a shrug, careful to not jostle you too much as he carried you. “perhaps i decided that someone more level headed when it came to confrontations would be best. as the judge, i do not kill indiscriminately. i can only assume that if i were to have killed those humans, it would have not endeared me to any other humans nearby.” Sans’ hazy eye light flickered in its socket. “it is more difficult to hold back as i was before, then it is for me to use magic and ensure a quick getaway. though it was tempting to judge those other humans. some of their sins were...very visible, but as i was not asked to judge, it is not my place at this time to do so.”

”This is kind of confusing.” You admitted into the silence broken only by Sans’ footsteps, some minutes after he’d finished speaking. “It’s like you’re Sans but not. Even your voice is different.”

”i am sans. a part of him. we used to be one and the same, despite the separate magic that coexisted within me. but after the skull injury, it’s more like we are two separate people, despite still being sans.” Sans stared up at the sky. “a judge’s magic always stays within the chosen monster when they come into being, and remains this way until their death, regardless of what happens to the monster in between.”

You nodded along to this explanation. It sounded similar to how Sans had explained it before, when you first saw that pale white eye light. You lifted your head to meet that gaze now. “Should I still refer to you as Sans when you’re...out?”

”it is my name.” Sans said with an indifferent shrug. “if it would help for you to differentiate me from the Sans you know, i am not opposed to being referred to or thought of by a different name.

”Could you tell me a bit about yourself? What it is that you do? I don’t want to just go the easy route and call you ‘Judge’.” You told the monster.

“there isn’t much to say. it is my purpose, to be the judge, and judge others when the need arises, when ordered by the king.” Sans offered a serene smile. “it was only brief moments of time to me, being faced with crimes that ranged from petty and inconsequential to murder, though the latter were few and far between. it is for me to truly see those brought before me. what judgment awaited, with their souls laid bare before me. just and fair was how the king wished my judgments to be, and i based them off the requirements given to me. mercy and leniency were hoped for but being guilty was always a possibility.” Sans glanced down at you, his fuzzy white eye light flickering in its socket. “does that help?”

”i think so.” You said, giving it thought. “How about...Justice?”

”fine with me.” Sans...Justice, agreed easily enough. His grin shifted from calm to amused. “is a judge not a justice?” The amusement remained as Justice walked. “you don’t have to say anything. right now, i’m bringing you to a safer area, before i let sans have control. you do not want to see me go berserk. i may not have personally seen it, or recall any of those instances, but i am aware of it through the writings to me.”

Both of you lapsed into silence, and as Justice continued to go...wherever it was he was going, you began to get lost in thought. But a question came to mind, and while you weren’t sure Justice would know the answer, you asked anyway. “Were Sans and Papyrus trying to find their way to other monsters, or were they just trying to get by? I’ve been wondering about that, since they both seemed to be...happy, just staying with me while I drove from place to place in my RV.”

Justice was quiet for a long time before he finally spoke aloud. “that is a complicated question. i do not know as much about this world as they would. i had not even been aware that we were no longer underground, until papyrus asked for me to pass judgment over you.” Justice’s teeth twitched at the edges into a thoughtful frown. “give me a moment to check something.” Justice carefully set you down on your feet. When he saw that you wouldn’t fall over, he pulled the battered notebook out from his inventory.   
  
You waited patiently, relieved that it wasn’t so cold today, and that you were bundled up in all of your winter clothing.

Justice let out a sage ‘ah’ of understanding when he came across a piece of paper tucked into the notebook. It was torn and tattered, as if about to fall apart completely. “sans will have to explain, but i can make an educated guess at what this means.” Justice held up the torn piece of paper. “according to this, after the humans became hostile toward the monsters years ago, the monsters decided to avoid all humans and go into hiding. at least until the royal scientist and...someone else, were able to find a way to go some place. the monsters were either able to leave, or they went into hiding until it was safe to escape. or, they died.”

”And what does that mean? To go somewhere else?”   
  
“here, take a look at this.” Justice showed you the page, where there were scribbled coordinates on it beneath all of the text. “you will have to clarify this with sans, but it appears that monsters as a whole decided that this universe wasn’t for them, and left it. when they did, they left behind a puzzle of sorts for other monsters to follow. it is vague enough that humans won’t be able to decode it, especially if the trail is properly hidden from sight.”

That tidbit of knowledge stunned you into silence.

A way to travel to another...world?

Was that even possible?

Justice carefully put the piece of paper back into the notebook. He proceeded to turn a few pages before writing in it.

You couldn’t believe it, and yet at the same time, you felt that the idea of leaving this place for another made sense for the monsters. Why would they stick around in this world and chance being killed or captured by humans, just for existing? If there was an option for monsters to go somewhere, anywhere, even another...universe, wouldn’t they take advantage of that?

Was that what Papyrus and Sans wanted? To find a way to leave this world for one less hostile? If so...why hadn’t they said anything?

Was it because you were human?

Sans and Papyrus had been chased and hunted down by humans before, hadn’t they? At least, it seemed that way, with how Sans had initially reacted toward you. And even if the few months they spent with you were pleasant overall...why would either brother tell you of any of their plans, if they weren’t one hundred percent certain that they could trust you?

”we have a bit further to travel before sans can come back.” Justice said, extending his hand out toward you. “think you can walk for a bit? i have a feeling sans will want to just pick you back up and hold you, to make sure that you are all right.”

”Yeah, I can walk for a bit.” You took Justice’s offered hand, and continued on through the snowy woods. Inwardly, you thought about how you could really use a nice warm hug right about now. 

Justice must have really been in tune with souls, or sensed something was off with you, because he gently brought you close to his side, still holding your hand.

It was...comforting, to be so close to the monster, his calm presence soothing as you were led deeper into unfamiliar surroundings.

You had a lot to think about.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was going to go with Judge for the name of the judge half, but it would get mixed up in my head with an UT Sans already nicknamed Judge (in another fic that I’m working on), so Justice it is.
> 
> There’s going to be a Papyrus chapter next, to show how he’s doing, and what’s going on regarding trying to track down Sans and the reader.


	19. Chase

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Papyrus 3rd POV
> 
> FYI: Papyrus does not have a good time at all in this chapter (but he will be fine, eventually).

Papyrus loved to run.

Really, he did.

Papyrus loved all forms of exercise, but this was a bit much. One wasn’t meant to run indefinitely. Even the Great Papyrus required a breather now and again! All of this racing about willynilly through unfamiliar territory wasn’t the best idea he had ever had, but there wasn’t much that Papyrus could do about this at present. He had been very much serious about drawing the human’s attention away from Sans and y/n. Papyrus felt it most unfortunate that he could not know for certain if he’d managed to garner enough attention from the humans to allow his brother and y/n a clean getaway.

Speaking of those humans...

Papyrus could hear them shouting.

Not a very organized pursuit, but efficient enough when the one being pursued was outnumbered, as well as unfamiliar with the surrounding terrain.

Papyrus backtracked when he could past clusters of trees, leading the humans around in a merry circle. It really wasn’t too much different than when he and the dogs of the Snowdin guard would chase one another through snow, past rocks and past trees when training on quiet days.

The dogs were better company, in Papyrus’ opinion. 

The humans were quite rude, sending attacks his way without any warning. They weren’t even taking turns in their efforts to corner and or strike him, which left Papyrus no choose but to run and run, as he had no time to efficiently counteract. But every once and awhile, everyone needed to take a breather to regain their stamina, humans included. And when their attacks temporarily ended, Papyrus returned to the area where y/n’s mobile home had been parked.

The tall monster was pleased to see that y/n’s home was undamaged.

Papyrus wasn’t able to linger, however, as the humans in pursuit picked up their second wind. Biting back a groan, Papyrus jogged off. All this movement was jostling his spine in a most painful way, but Papyrus didn’t want to go down on all fours. It was bad enough that the humans didn’t like monsters. Papyrus didn’t want to give them any more fuel to judge him for being so unlike them.

Painful posture it was, at least until he was safe and knew Sans and y/n were as well.

Keeping in constant motion was wearying, but Papyrus kept in near-constant motion anyway, even if he knew that his stamina wasn’t going to hold out on indefinitely. 

Pesky, if determined, humans.

Papyrus noticed after another hour of chase that the humans appeared content to trail along after him at a slower pace, as if waiting for him to wear himself out so they could catch him unawares.

He wouldn’t be bested.

Papyrus refused to go down without a fight, though a one on one fight with the humans seemed unlikely. So he fought back in ways he knew that he could make use of what was around him. When Papyrus wasn’t catching moments of rest here and there to restore his stamina, he was using that time setting up traps to slow down his pursuers. Papyrus became worried the longer the hours stretched on, especially when he caught bits of conversation between the humans. It really was cause for concern.

Somehow, the humans had figured out a way to track his magic and that of his brother’s.

This meant that, in the end, outrunning his pursuers meant nothing if they had a means to keep track of him. 

How unsporting of them.

This new knowledge didn’t prevent Papyrus from setting up traps as he continued to lope around the small groups of humans spread out in the woods.

Days passed like this.

It was exhausting.

With japery and other trickery that Papyrus normally refrained from using, he successfully foiled some humans he stumbled upon from blowing up the side of a mountain. The tall monster assumed this meant that Sans and y/n were hiding out within a cave. Papyrus didn’t bother trying to get into the side of the mountain. He kew, even if he were to hack through the rocks himself to the cave, that it would be empty. 

Sans wouldn’t remain in a place where humans would find him.

Papyrus doubled back to lead this new set of humans on a long, false trail, before he doubled back once more and began to cover his tracks. A moot point, really, if his magic was being tracked in some way, but Papyrus prided himself in his abilities, and dutifully set up on the spot traps. He could faintly sense Sans’ soul, and felt reassured that his brother wasn’t in any pain or in any way panicked. If Papyrus were reading him correctly, Sans seemed to be quite content.

Good.

Good for his brother.

Papyrus was happy that he was doing so well.

Himself?

Not so much.

Shouting drew his attention, and Papyrus’ skull snapped up in alarm. It sounded much too close for comfort.

Curses!

Of all the times to become distracted!

Papyrus veered hard to the right to avoid having humans catch sight of him. Most unfortunately, this meant that he wasn’t watching his step. This distraction ended with Papyrus tumbling down into a sharp ravine and getting himself jammed between rocks. It was quite uncomfortable and painful, truth be told.

The injuries made it worse.

Falliig into the ravine not only injured him with a loss of the dozens or so HP, his energy level was shot. Most distressingly, Papyrus noticed that his magic levels were down as well, due to immediately healing himself as best he could at the angle he was stuck at.

This was a very unfortunate situation.

It worsened when Papyrus heard yelling from nearby. Perhaps he’d made some sort of involuntary pained noise or gasp when he fell. With a light sigh, Papyrus rested his skull against the nearest large rock. He wouldn’t have time to free himself and escape, therefore, he was unlikely to avoid being found by his pursuers.

Hmm.

What to do. What to do.

Never had Papyrus been so envious of his brother’s ability to teleport than he was now. But wishful thinking wasn’t going to help him in this situation he’d gotten himself in to.

No.

Calm and level-headed thinking was required at present, as the voices grew louder.

Seeing as Papyrus found himself wounded from his fall, he knew that it was best to remain as calm as possible. No matter what happened, Papyrus couldn’t allow his soul to reflect how panicked, nervous and...and _afraid_ he was of what might happen once the humans located him. But Papyrus would adapt to whatever was to come. He was very good at hiding the emotions his soul wanted to put out to the world. Assuring Sans from a distance that he was still all right was going to be a difficult endeavor, but Papyrus would preserver for a time, until he came up with a solid plan.

No doubt, from the gossip Papyrus had heard from the humans over the past few days, he was to be brought somewhere secure. A location where he would be unlikely to give his soon to be captives the slip. But since Papyrus wasn’t in any shape to fight, he most certainly would not be able to make a clean escape before reaching said secure location. Papyrus wanted to prevent his brother from being drawn into a trap, which could be a plan, considering the humans had seen there were two of them.

Both Papyrus and Sans knew this might happen at some point.

It didn’t make it hurt any less that Papyrus might not see his brother again, but they had agreed, years ago, that neither of them would be responsible for the other’s death. This led Papyrus to assume Sans meant this kind of situation he was now in, where there was a chance that both of them could be trapped, and it might lead to their deaths. And if Papyrus let Sans know of his distress, and came to investigate, when the humans were still around...

Someone would end up badly injured or dead.

Papyrus didn’t have much more time to his own thoughts, as skull began to feel somewhat fuzzy. Maybe, just maybe, it would be okay to close his sockets, for just a teensy tiny moment?

...

Papyrus must have fitfully dozed off, because when he became aware of his surroundings once more, he was keenly aware that he was no longer in the ravine. Rather, Papyrus found himself lying on his side, his arms bound behind his back.

Not the best way to wake up, really, but it certainly wasn’t the worst Papyrus had experienced.

Papyrus kept his sockets closed, not wanting to give himself away by opening them, even without the use of eye lights. There was quiet, idle chatter all around him, and in a moment of weakness at the word ‘experiments’, Papyrus’ soul unthinkingly twisted in distress. Cracking his sockets open just a tad, but not noticeably so, Papyrus was able to orient himself somewhat.

He was in some metal cage, being maneuvered into the back of a large vehicle he was unfamiliar with. Papyrus could only assume that the humans intended to bring him to that secure location, in order to lure Sans in, and then capture him. Or perhaps, they would go to another location, and ambush Sans before taking the both of them to a secure location, where those ‘experiments’ were possible. Another pang of distress went through Papyrus, along with a healthy dose of dread.

Dread of what was to come, whenever the humans reached their destination with him.

Dread and worry, if Sans were to show up, and get into a fight, where he might not pay the best attention.

Papyrus dearly hoped that Sans was smart enough to stay away.

As much as the idea pained Papyrus to be separated from his brother, Papyrus didn’t want Sans to be hurt more than he already had been. The skull injury had been devastating, and Sans had never fully recovered.

Papyrus refrained from sniffing miserably.

This would hurt terribly, if there was the possibly to never see his brother again, but it would hurt Papyrus far more if Sans were to be injured and captured as well. There was a high likelihood that, were they brought in together, they would be used against one another, in order to gain compliance in whatever it was the humans had planned for them. 

Oh.

Oh dear.

Another horrible thought came to mind.

Sans wasn’t the only one who would be in danger from a theoretical capture. Y/n would be in danger as well, since Papyrus was certain that his brother wouldn’t let y/n out of his sight.

The nearby voices rose in argument before it quieted, and the door was closed on him, leaving him in the dark. 

The vehicle began to move.

Papyrus didn’t open his sockets all the way, which was a good precaution on his part, because he caught sight of a red dot in the corner back of this vehicle. It kind of reminded him of the cameras that Alphys had set up throughout the underground, which meant he was being watched.

This was not a good day.

It was not the worst, but today was certainly one that Papyrus would put in the running for top five worst days ever.

A sudden flare-up of powerful magic in the vicinity involuntarily made Papyrus’ bones rattle softly in response. With a heavy, morose sigh that didn’t match his faint grin, Papyrus braced himself within the cage. There was anticipation that the vehicle might not be moving for much longer, depending on where that charged magic was going to be directed.

”Dammit Sans.”

Papyrus held onto a thin strand of hope that Sans would not make any rash decisions. But the sensation of burning magic filled with righteous fury soon burst into a roaring inferno. It left Papyrus in little doubt that Sans was ready to rain down hell on the humans who’d captured him. 

Skull injury or not, Sans would never allow anyone, monster or human, to bring harm to his little brother.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Some humans are about to have a bad time, but not without consequences for both parties.
> 
> Whoops. Dwelt a little too long on this chapter.  
> Also: I will not be changing the total quite yet, but with the way the outline for this is laid out, I’m likely going to up the number of chapters this fic has, because it is planned (based off the previous chapter) for the characters to go to another universe. When I have a better idea, I’ll change it- for now, it’s going back to ?


	20. Demonic

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It’s gonna be a bumpy, unhappy ride for a few chapters before things get better.
> 
> Warnings/additional tags: magic causing self-harm from use (due to skull injury, Sans can only use magic in short bursts w/o a problem). sustained use can backfire on him-one of which is him coughing up blood (marrow). brief violence with use of magic and a standoff with threat of violence (gun) toward a character.

Justice took you to a quiet area on the other side of the mountain, away from any other human’s prying eyes. 

”it should be sufficiently safe here for a time.” Justice said, taking in the area with a sweep of his eye light, before turning to you. “i may be called upon again, if need be, but sans should be able to keep a level head now that you’re both out of immediate danger.”

”Thanks, Justice.” 

Justice inclined his skull, staring up at the sky for a moment with a melancholic air before he let out a ‘heh’ and fell silent.

It was reassuring when the monster’s socket blinked. Sans was back, that glowing, enlarged red eye light flickering back into existence. The eye light settled on you after a cursory examination of the area.

The woods were quiet all around.

It was peaceful.

Nothing would have indicated that there were humans around that were willing to blow up the side of the mountain to get to you and Sans. No one had followed you here, either. Justice would have been alert and wouldn’t have stopped here if he thought it wasn’t safe, as he’d said, and felt it fine for Sans to be back in control.

”...okay?” Sans asked, his voice a low rumble as he shuffled closer to you. His eye light roved over you a few times, from head to foot, as if to reassure himself that you were as okay as you could be, all things considered.

”Yeah, I’m fine.” You reassured the monster. “Justice got me out of the area before anyone could break into the cavern with explosives.” At Sans’ furrowed brow bone, you realized that he wouldn’t know who you were taking about, as he had yet to read his notebook. “I wanted to be able to tell you and the judge apart more easily, so I decided to call him Justice.”

”...justice...” Sans’ grin slowly tugged up at the corners. His skull tilted to the side, phalanges absently reaching up to scritch at the edge of his damaged skull. “...gonna give me one too?”

”I only gave the judge one because I already knew you as Sans.” You told him, and started to laugh when Sans crowded into your personal bubble to loosely pull you into a hug as he nuzzled the top of your head.

”...gimme a nickname too.” Sans insisted. “just fer me? don’t gotta call me it all the time.” Sans’ his nuzzles increased as the fingers of one of his hands started playing with your hair.

“Well...” Wriggling free of the suddenly snuggly monster, you looked him in the eye light.

Sans stared back, his good eye socket crinkled up at the bottom in good humor, grin hopeful.

“How about...” You abruptly fell silent when Sans suddenly went completely rigid, his eye light shrinking. “Sans? What’s wrong?”

Sans swung his skull to and fro wildly, his eye light now a tiny red dot within the socket. The monster’s expression was his neutral perma-grin. When Sans locked onto what he was looking for, his grin twisted into a furious snarl, his hands curling and uncurling into fists.

A spark of magic left his clenched fists, his posture still for one moment, before Sans completely lost his damn mind.

It was a fury unlike you’d ever seen in Sans.

This wasn’t the anger Sans had held when he found the anti-monster propaganda and thought this meant you were anti-monster. This was a deeper anger that you were seeing.

Sans’ left socket began leaking a trail of blue-like fire (magic), swirling out from the socket and highlighting the small red light within. Sans looked ready to rain hellfire down on someone he looked so enraged. But when he looked at you, the anger dimmed a little, and you could somehow...sense that it was not directed at you.

”...need to go help paps.” Sans uttered, teeth set in a wild grin that didn’t mean anything good for whoever might be giving Papyrus a hard time. Sans scooped you up without warning. “...need you to stay close, but out of sight. not sure how this will end, but i need you safe.”

Before you could even say anything to that, Sans held you to his chest, and that sensation of dropping came and went.

A shortcut.

A growl reverberated from within Sans’ chest, but his touch was gentle as he laid you out on the grass.

”...don’t say a word.” Sans mumbled, crouched as he rested a hand across your upper back. “...no matter what happens, don’t...” He trailed off, took a breath, and then added. “...don’t associate with me or my bro, if the other humans find you. don’t let them think you had anything to do with us apart from being ‘abducted’ by us. y/n, even if it hurts, lie to them, do whatever you gotta do to keep safe.”

Something twisted in your chest, hating the sadness in Sans’ tone, along with the heavy resignation and acceptance that whatever was about to happen wouldn’t go well.

”Sans.”

”...please.”

At the strained plea, you peeked up at Sans, and saw his eye light fixed on you. His expression was weary, the anger gone for a brief moment.

He was serious.

Resting your head on the grass, you sighed, not liking this one bit. “...Okay.”

Sans rested his hand heavier against your back, fingers curling into the back of your jacket, before he let go, and stood up. With a slow sigh, Sans stepped forward.

Yells followed.

You craned your head to one side, and saw that Sans had broken through the surrounding trees into a clearing near a road. There was a truck on the other side of the road, the back door open, showing...

Oh.

Oh no.

From the angle you were lying, you could just make out Papyrus inside of a cage, and it was much too short for him. He didn’t seem to be moving, but he wasn’t dust, which meant he was either unconscious or being careful to make no sudden movement.

The humans were now saying something to Sans, but you were too far out to hear what was being said. 

It didn’t matter.

Sans didn’t say a word in reply.

From behind, you saw the way the blue-like flame (smoke? magic?) flare wildly, Sans’ left hand raising, a blue glow enveloping it.

All at once, a dozen of those floating dragon-skulls began sending out beams of light. 

It was an amazing show of magic, but something didn’t seem to be...right. 

Sans wasn’t actively trying to strike anyone. It appeared like he was trying to drive the humans closest to his brother away.

When that didn’t work, you saw the way Sans’ stance changed, and his accuracy began to increase, more attacks being thrown into the mix.

Sans’ stance was a little hunched, his shoulders rising and falling in apparent effort the longer his magic was used. But despite this, Sans sent out attack after attack, including a whole plethora of bones, white and blue, of all shapes and types, toward the humans. Some struck the humans and pinned them to the ground, while other humans were sent scattering out of the way as they yelled in panic to one another.

Not a minute later, and it was obvious to you now that something else was very, very wrong.

No humans had yet managed to attack him in return and yet...Sans had just staggered before righting himself, something dripping onto the ground.

It was red.

But Sans’ magic was...blue? At least, you thought it was.

You sucked in a harsh breath of air.

Unless...was he...could skeleton monsters bleed?

You didn’t have time to wonder about that, because someone shouted again, drawing your attention away from Sans. Whatever was said didn’t register with you, but you did see movement near the back of the truck. 

All of the attacks, bones and floating dragon skulls, screeched to a complete halt when a human hoisted themselves into the back of the truck, near the cage Papyrus was in.

Sans went completely rigid himself, breath sucking in uneasily. More red dripped to the ground but Sans appeared to be ignoring it, even if he seemed to sway on his feet before finding his balance. 

You held perfectly still as well, though this was because you could hear footsteps within your vicinity. Feigning unconsciousness was easy enough so long as you didn’t move or open your eyes that much. You didn’t want to draw Sans’ attention away, lest someone try to get in a cheap shot. He clearly needed to focus on what the other humans were doing. But you couldn’t help but let out an involuntary gasp at what happened next. Even though you were squinting, you could see the way the human none to subtly aimed a weapon directly at Papyrus’ skull. From this distance, you couldn’t tell what it was, but you presumed it was a gun.

An unspoken threat, if Sans kept on with his assault.

Magic crackled through the air dangerously, in response to that one human’s action, but Sans didn’t move from where he stood, even as his hands clenched into fists at his side. The threat to his brother had clearly registered, and Sans seemed at a loss of how to proceed, his conjured attacks still hovering in the air around him.

You had no idea what to do but lie there and wait to see what happened. Sans’ words were still fresh in your mind, about not ‘associating’, with him or Papyrus. To be honest, despite your desire to defend your friends, you weren’t sure someone wouldn’t take a shot at you if you were to suddenly move out of the blue. Nor were the other humans likely to be all buddy-buddy with you if they found out you hadn’t actually been abducted.

A tense, uneasy standoff followed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Note 1: Things are going to start moving along quickly, so I am hoping to get the next few chapters posted by the end of this upcoming weekend. It all depends on how the edits go (I started working from home last week, so I need to find the best way to fit writing into a work schedule again).
> 
> Note 2: The total amount of chapters has gone up from my initial assessment of 31. It’s tentatively sitting at 45 now, and may continue to go up, story and interest permitting. It turned into an actual story with sections. In part 2 in my mind right now.


	21. Yield

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wrote out a few chapters (minus the edits) while working on ch 19, so here’s another update!  
> Sans/Justice split POV 3rd  
> Warnings/additional tags: blood (marrow), unintentional self-harm, reset mentions, angst, fear of loss, quick thinking, emergency self-healing, imprisonment, discussion of/with the judge during which requests are made. Potential power imbalance regarding judge answering to an authority figure.

His mind was hanging by a thread, threatening to drop Sans down a spiraling dark hole he couldn’t claw his way out of.

He couldn’t let that happen.

He couldn’t lose control.

Sans had to concentrate as best he could. Stay aware of the situation he was now in, for Papyrus’ sake.

It was difficult.

So difficult, to focus.

Sans was down into low decimals of HP, and that wasn’t due to any of the humans managing to get anywhere near him to inflict the drop.

No.

Sans had done the damage to himself.  


Perhaps the marrow slipping past his clenched teeth was the reason he used a cleaver in favor of magic when engaging in a fight with humans.

Had he written that in his notebook?

Maybe? 

Sans sucked in a few unsteady breaths, exhaustion weighing him down with every second that passed.  


He’d miscalculated.

The injuries he’d caused himself by using his own magic for such a prolonged period of time was going to render him useless in the not so distant future. Sans let out a choking laugh that sent more marrow spilling down past his jawbone to the ground.  Papyrus was still in danger, and yet there Sans was, stock still with his magic chipping away at his own HP because he hadn’t yet let his constructs or gaster blasters vanish.   


Sans hooked a few phalange into his right eye socket in an attempt to ground himself, but it did nothing more than cause him even more pain, and a minuscule amount of damage. He let go, eye light seeping over the area to see the humans warily keeping their distance from him. Sans’ rib cage heaved as he struggled to remain upright. If he collapsed now...if he dusted now...Paps would be all alone with those humans, and Sans wouldn’t allow that. If he couldn’t save his brother now, Sans would have to bide his time and do so later.

Several more micro decimals were shaved off and Sans shakily left the hole in his skull alone. The pain brought a tiny sliver of clarity, and it was enough for Sans’ thoughts to refocus and settle on what needed to be done right now, as loathe as he was to be out of the loop for a time.

Justice needed to be here. The judge would have a better sense of how to proceed in this situation.

Sans needed to pass off control to the judge as soon as possible, before he got his brother killed right in front of him. Sans met Papyrus’ gaze, and saw the way those sockets pinched up in fear and worry. It was utterly agonizing, seeing his little brother in danger, and being threatened with a weapon held close to his skull.

It wasn’t a knife.

No.

Sans never saw a knife as much anymore, even in his worst times when he forgot where he was.

There was no knife, and no more resets.

But the past wasn’t what Sans should he thinking about right now.

The human next to his brother said something.  


Sans held tight to his manifested magic, but knew that he would not attack anymore. He couldn’t risk Papyrus’ life right now. Sans couldn’t bear the thought of losing his brother, now that there was no chance of a reset. With that in mind, and one more quick look at Papyrus, Sans made his decision. With a thought to check to make sure that y/n was safe, Sans let all of his formed magic shatter into nothing, and frantically, almost pleadingly, called on the judge as he had back in the cavern.

This had to work again.

It had to.

Sans could only hope that Justice would find a way to prevent a death Sans couldn’t bear to witness ever again. Not without completely losing himself in the process, and potentially harming y/n in his grief.

-x-x-x-

The agonizing pain in all of his bones was what Justice noticed first.

It was unfamiliar.

Justice did not recall ever being in such a state, apart from the time those resets had occurred. And as disconnected as he now was from the main part of himself...

What had happened?

When Justice came into full awareness, those self-inflicted wounds from excessive magic use nearly made him fall over. This body of his had been pushed past the limits it could safely endure. The marrow spilling past his teeth now and again was a testament to that, as he struggled to get even breaths.

Remaining upright didn’t seem a good idea right now, seeing as he could barely stand.

Justice double checked his HP to find himself barely hanging on to the world of the living.

0.01

Dangerous.

Reckless.

Worse than the HP was the state of his soul.

When Justice took a moment to check on it, it was even worse than he expected and not at all a good sign. There were cracks in his soul, small but numerous. His soul had not been like that before. If Justice wasn’t careful, he would dust himself with one wrong move, even without such dangerously low HP.

How was it he could even still be conscious?

Movement and voices drew Justice’s attention away from his own battered body.

That was right.

If Sans had called on him, then there was a reason for that.

Justice blocked out the pain as he coolly assessed the situation. As he had been brought forth with no knowledge of what was going on, Justice would have to make do with what he could infer. From the look of it, there was no need to peruse the notebook when it was all laid out before him.

Papyrus was being menaced by a weapon of some kind, and he looked afraid, yet worried at the same time. This was likely due to Justice’s no doubt battered and bleeding appearance.

As for y/n...yes.

There they were.

Justice knew that Sans wouldn’t have wanted them out of his sight. Justice didn’t want y/n out of his sight either, and what an interesting position to be in, to be the same person and yet, to have these...feelings, these unfamiliar emotions, dictate how Justice wanted to respond to this predicament was not how he would normally make a decision. And yet, Justice sensed that Y/n was safe, and when another human came upon them, he could tell that y/n was still safe, if a little unhappy about what was going on.

Justice turned his senses away from y/n. He couldn’t make a decision from the soul.

Logic and knowledge took precedence.

With that in mind, Justice was able to come to a decision that would ensure no one got hurt, at least for now. As much as a judgment seemed imperative, based off the LV he saw in these humans, Justice had not explicitly been _told_ to pass judgment over said humans.

So, in the best interest of Papyrus, y/n and his own body, Justice staggered and awkwardly collapsed the the ground beneath him with a weary grunt.  
  
An anguished cry from a soul rang clear despite the silence all around him. 

Justice struggled through his attempts to focus solely on his soul cracks, in order to reassure Papyrus that he was, in fact, not dusting. That he was merely exhausted and in need of a good rest, one that wasn’t likely to come easy, and time to heal, which may also be difficult to accomplish.

Papyrus’ soul calmed somewhat but continued to waver unhappily.

From the way his body sagged into the ground, the marrow still trickling past his teeth, Justice knew that he wasn’t holding up well. It was pure beyond agony when the soul cracks splintered further, a show of just how too far his body had been pushed past known limits. Instinctively, Justice focused his magic inwardly, wrapping his soul in a careful hold of healing magic. He was uncaring of the weapons trained on him, or the voices that spoke to him. All that mattered was his soul. All that mattered in that moment was to prevent his soul from shattering itself into pieces. 

The voices began to blur together but the humans’ actions were hard to ignore.

Justice only distantly felt the way his arms were twisted painfully behind his back, but he didn’t heed the action much more than that.

He wasn’t dust.  


Therefore, his soul’s rapidly deteriorating condition took precedence.  


It wasn’t until Justice was settled onto an uncomfortable surface that he came back to the world around him, the healing magic dissipating. His soul was still cracked, but he was no longer in danger of completely shattering into pieces. Justice checked his HP and found it to be a little higher than before, and now climbing up decimal by tiny decimal toward 1. He was stable, which meant Justice could now look around at his limited surroundings. With a slow breath, Justice’s socket opened and his hazy white eye light met Papyrus, whose sockets revealed tears quietly slipping down cheekbones.

“Are you all right?” Papyrus whispered, sniffing and presumably attempting to stem the tears, but failing to do so because he couldn’t properly brush his sockets against an arm.

“i am adequately functioning.” Justice replied.

“Ah, the judge.” Papyrus’ worried expression deepened, the tears beginning to taper off. “What happened? I haven’t seen my brother use magic like that in a very long time.”

“i used too much magic and it has exhausted me. the judge’s magic that i have access to, i was able to use it to heal myself some. there was self-inflicted damage to my body as well as my soul, from that overuse of magic.” Justice’s eye light inspected the dark while Papyrus let out a choked sound.

”Sans...I never knew that it hurt you to use your magic. Is that why you started to use that cleaver?”

”i would assume so.” Justice said, as he noted that he was in a separate cage. Justice redirected Papyrus’ question back to him. “What has happened?”

The explanation was short and succinct, and Justice mused over it in thoughtful silence before speaking.

“The humans are transporting us to a place to observe and experiment on us? On monsters?” Justice was...troubled by this news. It was not something the judge was used to dealing with. He was only just beginning to realize how little he was his own person. How he was more used to being the judge, jury and executioner of monsterkind, and  yet...here he was without anyone to judge.  


Justice was without direction. He was without it a sovereign, or someone in a position of authority, to guide him. Justice required edicts...demands and instructions for his judgments to be carried out efficiently.

It was terrifying.

Suddenly, the dark around him was too deep.  


He was floundering, Justice realized, now that he had come to the realization that he had no anchor to his duty as judge. There was no one for him to answer to. No one to tell him to come forth for a judgement.

This must be remedied at once.

It could not be Sans who called Justices out for duty, as they were one and the same. Sans was only able to draw on him because they were the same monster. But Justice needed someone to follow orders from. To be called upon by someone other than Sans, when a judgement was required. There was only one option Justice could see, and as it had worked the first time, he had no doubt any other time would work as well. And this monster had a sense of, heh, _justice_ , so Justice knew this monster would not take advantage of calling on him for future judgements.

“papyrus.”

“Yes, Sans?”

Papyrus was wary.

Concerned.

“i need to ask something of you.” Justice could see the wariness and concern rising, and for a moment, Justice thought the other monster might say no. Justice should have known better, with what he had read in the notebook.

“What is it?” Papyrus shifted so that he was faced toward Justice, to better meet his single fuzzy eye light.

“since you commanded i come forth to judge the human, y/n, i find myself without anyone to answer to when my presence is required, now that we are on the surface.”

Papyrus had gone still, a frown rising across his teeth. He didn’t interrupt, so Justice continued on.

“It has been far too long since the king called upon me for a judgement. so long, in fact, that i find his orders from years ago no longer hold any sway over me. i am without purpose.” Justice could sense the unease now outweighing the concern. “to be without purpose is dangerous when it comes to a judge’s magic. much too easy to be taken advantage of. i need someone to answer to, lest those humans figure out some way to make that someone be them. i do not believe i need to tell you how i would feel to be under a human’s thumb versus a monster whose sense of justice is true.” For a moment, again, Justice thought that Papyrus would say no. That he would balk over the thought of having any power over his brother, and would not listen to any more than what Justice had already said.

After a short silence, Papyrus, with a weary sigh, whispered back.

“What do you need me to do, brother?”

“what i need is for you to be the king asgore couldn’t be, when my injury made me useless in his mind. i need for you to be a king who will call forth the judge, when monsterkind requires it. king asgore lost that right many years ago, when he deemed me unfit for me judgements, which has never occurred before in all the time a judge has been among monsters.”

”You have stated as much.” Papyrus’ smile was a little sad. “What I meant was how does it work? What would you need me to do? Not that I believe I am kingly material or even royalty, to ask judge to do something.” Papyrus took a breath and let it out. “Even if I did request it once before. But I do agree that it is not a good idea to have you end up working for the humans against your will.”

”having me answer to you isn’t going against my will. and i know you will only call on the judge’s power when it is required, and not on a whim, when it is not needed.” Justice said. “as _you_ have said, you already called on me before, but only once, for y/n, and not since.”

Papyrus was quiet, his brow bone scrunched up as though thinking.

”i need an answer, before we reach wherever the humans are taking us.” Justice murmured. “there is much to discuss and agree to, if we proceed, much like the discussion i had with king asgore so many years ago.”

”I trust you, brother.” Papyrus said after another long moment silence. “I will be a king for two monsters, then, if that is what it takes to make sure you’ll be safe.”

Justice felt the truth in those words, the judge satisfied with his choice of new sovereign, even if it was sadly true that Justice may as well be a judge for only two monsters.

The rest had either died or left this world years ago.

Justice frowned thoughtfully.

Perhaps three, if his senses weren’t completely gone. Though this third presence was hard to pin down, as if the monster was and wasn’t here in this world.

It felt like the void and not.

But it didn’t matter to Justice in the moment. He would mention the sensation in the notebook for Sans at a later time, once everyone was out of danger.

The darkness around the captured skeleton monsters in the back of the truck was dark.

It became darker.

And then darker yet.

A presence was there but not there at the same time. Between one moment and the next the presence was gone, as if it had never been there in the first place.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> :)  
> The plot I didn’t realize I was adding helped itself into my outline while I was writing future chapters after ch 26. 
> 
> I’d like to be able to get chapters 22-24 posted this weekend, pending edits. Keeping it at a lower amount of words per chapter helps with edits (although this one got a bit longer). Plus, for this fic, I like to include a little of what the chapter title is for each chapter.  
> Still unhappy times ahead, but FYI, chapter 25 is titled Judgement aka the turning point where things begin to get better.


	22. Contain

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings/additional tags: angst, reader lying about situation they were in, not all together there-more in thought than in reality (aka reader not taking in a lot of what’s being said to them-the situation is a struggle to deal with), more angst, monster imprisonment, implied monster dusting (in the past), minor injuries, characters in distress, implied abuse, magic suppressors, difficult situation is difficult.

Things moved quickly once Sans was locked up in the back of the truck with Papyrus. 

You didn't see everything, of course, but you had seen enough to know you had to be very careful about what you said to your fellow humans. Not to mention how you outwardly presented yourself when speaking to them. It also meant that you waited for the people who discovered you laid out and ‘unconscious' on the grass to make the first move. Being gently roused was weirdly disconcerting, considering how hostile everyone had been toward Sans. But since Sans had pretended to abduct you, it really shouldn't have come as a surprise that you were being treated so carefully.

The men and women around you were likely to think that you might have been injured. The concern, instead of being comforting, made you supremely uncomfortable, and yet you were unable to tell them to stop without being suspicious. Surely anyone else who had gone through what you supposedly had would need those reassurances.

...why in the world did everyone insist on speaking over one another? How were you supposed to come up with a lie for an answer if no one gave you any room to speak?

”You’re going to be just fine.”

”It’s over.”

”Let’s get you out of the cold.”

There was a brief silence as a blanket was draped over your shoulders, and you were steered toward one of the unmarked police cars. That, of course, was when the questions began to trickle out, as you took a seat within the vehicle. The responses you gave to those questions were automatic, as your mind was still reeling from what had just happened in the past ten minutes.

Had it really only been ten minutes?

Ten minutes from being in a safe place with Sans, to this?

You suppose it was a good thing your mind was able to provide acceptable answers to the police. Right now, you certainly didn't want to think too deeply on a question that was put to you. There was no way you wanted to accidentally fumble over your words and give yourself away. Not after Sans had made certain to give you plausible deniability by making it look like he ‘abducted’ you.

"Did you willingly ask the monster to take you with them?

“No, I didn’t.” Yes, you would have, whether or not Sans thought of it himself. “I was minding my own business. Pulled over to check a tire.”

”A witness stated they saw the monster in your RV with you.”

Not suspicious, yet, asking for clarification to your words.

”How else was I supposed to get outside to try and attract someone’s attention? If I had a flat tire, I wouldn’t be able to keep driving, so the monster let me go check. I couldn’t get to my phone.” The phone that was securely in Sans’ inventory, because the battery was dead. But the police didn’t need to know that. This was a lot more difficult than you thought, to lie, but it seemed to be working. “When I was outside the RV, everything just became a blur. It didn’t click that the monster had picked me up until we were 

That seemed to be good enough, because it was on to the next question.

"Did the monster want something from you?"

“The monster never really spoke to me, not at first, anyway. I never got an answer for why they took me.” Better to keep it short, and not meander and walk yourself into a wall later with conflicting information.

"Did the monster hurt you?"

“No, never. The monster never laid a finger on me or used magic while around me.” Lies. Those floating dragon skulls blasting away at the mountain. Shortcuts to get you to a safe place when needed.

”Even those this monster was much bigger than a human is?”

”I am aware how big the monster was compared to humans. But no, I wasn’t injured.”

”Would you be willing to go to a doctor?”

”Yes.” You were perfectly willing if slightly exasperated to do so, but you would do it to prove to everyone that you were perfectly fine. The only things you wanted was a nice warm shower. Oh, and you also wanted Sans and Papyrus out of those steel cages but hey, you couldn’t say that without potentially ending up on one alongside them.

"Did the monster ever make any demands?”

“No, not really. At least, not anything that seemed over the top?” 

Stop talking.

Stop.

Rethink it quickly.

Sans only wanted to protect you, while waiting for Papyrus to come find the both of you. There had never been any demands.

“I guess...the monster did make it clear that they didn’t want me to try to run away, or to draw attention to myself. That was why we ended up in a cavern, becuase I did try to get the attention of some hikers.” 

Lies.

So many lies.

It didn’t sit well with you.

”I was even able to convince the monster to get me food and some winter clothes, when I didn’t try to run away again.” You added. “But the monster never said anything other than that.”  


It was a wonder that anyone actually believed you. Your words sounded like a terrible lie to you, because it was. But somehow, someway, those words were enough to convince the man and woman in the car with you that you were, indeed, abducted by monsters.

The questions stopped, for the time being.

What they didn’t know wouldn’t hurt them.

The vehicle drove off to a nearby clinic.

You felt anxious, and by the time you entered the clinic, you were feeling a little  nauseous. But you chalked up being sick to your stomach over what you had had to say to protect yourself. But you didn’t like how you had to lie and say stuff about Papyrus and Sans that just wasn’t true at all. To say words that you didn’t believe. It made you unhappy to make your friends look bad to the other humans, but it was a necessity right now. You knew you had to make them believe that you had nothing to do with the monsters.

Sans’ words stayed with you, and helped you keep up with the pretense.

Don’t associate with your friends.

Sans wanted you to be safe.

It hurt, to have to stick with that lie you’d spoken, and repeat it while you were at the clinic, checked over by a doctor. Saying those lies again had only made your nausea worse, but you didn’t let anyone know that. You just rattled off the information that you’d told the authorities before, and after getting a clean bill of health, you were free to leave. 

Time blurred again.

You were preoccupied with all that had happened that it barely registered that you’d been given a hotel room, free of change for the night, with a reminder that you’d be met in the morning and brought in to speak with the authorities again. After a nice long warm shower and an uneasy night’s rest, all too soon you found yourself back in a car with a police escort.

Something was said about seeing the monsters?

You weren’t really listening. You were still waking up, and your thoughts were filled with worry. Desperately wanting to see Sans and Papyrus, you didn’t question the idea of going to see them. But not for reasons the police were telling you. No, not at all. You wanted to know the condition your friends were in. It wasn’t the best idea to go when you were in such an internal turmoil, but if you could see Sans and Papyrus, you would go.

It wasn’t until later that you would realize seeing your friends in such horrid conditions would help you come to a decision. A rather reckless, crazy one, that would only come to you when you weren’t overwhelmed by the sight you were about to be subjected to.

The car slowed to a halt, and you looked out the window, before doing a double-take. 

An abandoned asylum? 

You don’t recall ever seeing an asylum on the news, but come to think of it, most information about what happened to monsters that weren’t killed seemed to be kept from public knowledge. You hadn’t liked how other people talked about monsters over the years, so you ended up watching less and less of those news reports.

“This is only a temporary holding cell for those monsters.” The man who had driven the car said. “There’s a more secure location that is having some last minute adjustments made. Believe it or not, it’s been at least a year, if not more, since any monsters had been kept there.”

You took this tidbit of information in, but didn’t say anything as you left the vehicle and followed group of people into the building.

”This is a perfectly safe environment.” One of the other nameless men told you. “There’s nothing to worry about while you’re here.”

How wrong this guy was.

You had plenty to worry about, including whether or not it was possible for you to be able to get your friends out of this situation.

It wasn’t looking good for them.

There were far too many guards around.

You made an attempt to tell yourself, as you were allowed into the building, that what you were going to see was likely to upset you. It was going to be very difficult to not outwardly react to what was sure to be mistreatment and terrible conditions. You didn’t want to be looked at with suspicion for being too overly eager to go check things out, so you kept up a pretense of wariness as you walked to elevator. The tentative (fake) way you’d spoken to the people yesterday apparently made them feel obligated to placate you today with some well-meaning but terrible reassurances, as if they believed you were afraid to go see the monsters.

“It’s okay. It’ll be perfectly safe for you to see the monsters. They can’t hurt you anymore.”

”Those monsters won’t be anywhere near you. There are armed guards, so no funny business is going to happen.”

“The cells are reinforced. No one is getting out.”

“There are collars that are temporary magic suppressors.”

That last comment sparked a flash of anger that you struggled to keep off your face. How _dare_ they do that to your friends. Being made up of primarily magic, it had to be painful to be separated from almost all of their magic. Thankfully, the righteous fury simmering within you was not something that the other humans around you were able to sense. All they saw was the way you appropriately ‘relax’, as if their words had been reassuring.

You weren’t at all reassured.

Honestly, it was one of the most difficult things for you in a long time to hold your silence. You were able to keep up a neutral expression as you rode an elevator down to the lower level, while in the inside you were panicking. How were you going to pass it as someone who had been abducted and not someone who had made friends for the first time in years? It was unnerving, too, to be surrounded in a small space with so many armed people.

Furious snarls could immediately be heard the moment the elevator door opened, which made you jump, but not for reasons the people around you assumed. The man closest to you was quick to speak up as the others murmured to one another.

”It’s all right. Just wait here with me. They’ll let us know when it’s safe to go over there.”

It was very hard for you to ignore the man’s words. Not when you wanted nothing more than to sprint down the long dingy hallway when you heard the heartbreaking sound of those snarls switching over to pained whimpers, followed by silence. You closed your eyes, and took in a breath before letting it out slowly.

Papyrus.

That had been Papyrus.

You don’t think you’d ever heard him sound so furious. And for Papyrus, who was rather easy-going and boisterous. It seemed so uncharacteristic of him. The only thing you could think of that would possibly cause that kind of reaction was for something to have happened to Sans. Apart from an irritated growl over Sans’ pranks, Papyrus wasn’t one to sound so vicious. At least, as long as you’d known him these past few months, he’d never sounded so angry. And those whimpers that rose and tell only made you want to desperately wrap that large skeleton in a hug. To tell Papyrus that you’d get him and Sans out of this dark place before they knew it.

Unlikely, given all the armed men and women around you as you were led down along the decrepit hallway. You barely heard when people started to again reassure you that these monsters would cause you no more trouble.

The first holding cell you passed by looked empty, unless one looked closely, where there was a thin layer of dust in an otherwise clean cell.

When you stopped in front of the cell that held Papyrus, you almost forgot yourself. Your chest tightened uncomfortably at the sight of Papyrus lying on his side, arms still bound behind his back. You bit the inside of your cheek to prevent yourself from gasping aloud, or from otherwise showing concern. Like literally going forward to stick your hand through the cell bars. Or yell at someone for the way Papyrus’ clothes were slightly torn up from where he’d been struck with something.

Had whatever happened with Sans caused Papyrus to try and resist being brought into the cell?

You couldn’t ask.

Not with so many eyes on you.

There were bones visible through the torn clothes, and they almost appeared bruised, along with the faint scratches all over his skull. Thankfully, there didn’t appear to be any further damage to Papyrus’ already crooked broken teeth. The worst thing, apart from the new, hopefully superficial wounds, was the metal collar that hung around Papyrus’ cervical vertebrae. It looked terribly heavy, and kept his skull at an awkward angle from where it rested in the cell floor.

You couldn’t tell if Papyrus was awake or not, because while his small sockets were partially open, he wasn’t moving. Whether he was unconscious or holding himself motionless was hard to tell. It felt so wrong to see the large monster so still, when you were used to seeing him in near-constant motion. You met those empty sockets anyway and tried to convey how sorry you were for him to be here. That if you could, you would do something to help him, but couldn’t right now, with all the people around you. 

  
Had you not been looking, you wouldn’t have seen Papyrus fingers twitch a few times. It was luck that he was particularly curled up so that you could see his hands. Papyrus twitched his fingers again, and this time, you realized that he was discreetly signing something. You struggled to remember the monster letters he and Sans decided to teach you, and recognized a few. 

_Careful._

_Watching._

_Be safe._

Luckily, despite being caught up in discerning Papyrus’ communication, you were able to absently nod along to whatever the woman next to you just said. You honestly couldn’t say what it was but whatever it was, a nod was a sufficient response.

Papyrus stilled his hands but made a few more senseless motions, presumably just in case someone might catch him at it.

Too soon, you were led to another cell. One that was completely out of Papyrus’ sight. That was probably part of the problem but why would Papyrus be so...

You stopped short in front of the cell.

Sans was asleep, or seemed to be. His good socket was closed, his right half-shut. There was still some marrow here and there, but it didn’t seem to be fresh. Sans was much rougher a shape than Papyrus, it seemed. Sans arms were chained to the wall. 

Literallt.

There were some chains looped through his ulna and radius, his jacket nowhere in sight with only a plain white T-shirt left behind, along with his track shorts and slippers. The chains looked to be putting pressure on his shoulders from his arms being held over his skull, and his wrists had cuffs around them, holding him up on his feet against the wall. 

There were, quick frankly, a ridiculous amount of chains across his legs, lower spine and rib cage, presumably to discourage Sans from trying to cause any trouble. 

  
It was like they expects him to explode with magical violence when while unconscious. The collar was there as well, to add insult to injury.

There was no way Sans could do anything in his current condition.

“Good thing we were able to find you when we did.” Someone commented.

The first words you actually took in since seeing Papyrus.  


“Yeah.” That one words was said with great difficulty.

You don’t know what went in the next couple of minutes apart from the vague remembrance that you hoped that your RV was not damaged in your absence.  


There were more reassurances and more niceties you didn’t care to hear, so you didn’t listen.

Too soon, you were led back to the elevator.

Away from Sans and Papyrus.

It was tempting, oh so tempting, to turn around and race straight back down the hall to them, without a plan in mind, but Sans’ words were stuck in your mind.

Don’t associate with us.  


Don't let the other humans see you associate with monsters.

Be safe.

With a heavy heart, you followed the still nameless people. You felt numb, as you barely listened to the chatter all around you. The farther you got away from Sans and Papyrus, the more you felt like your world was crumbling around you. 

Funny, how you thought you were fine before meeting Sans and Papyrus. 

How ever did you think that you would just be able to close yourself off to others? Had you really believed that you could just drive aimlessly in your RV indefinitely, without facing the real world at some point?

The silence was welcoming when you found yourself staring out the window of the vehicle. It seemed that your RV wasn’t damaged, and right now, that was where you were being driven to.

You...found that you didn’t actually care about the RV in that moment. All you could think about was that you were all alone again. 

Sans and Papyrus weren’t with you.

Time blurred again, and before you knew it, there you were, outside your RV.  


How had you gotten there?

You shook yourself out of your stupor long enough to exchange a few meaningless pleasantries with the people who had driven you to where the RV had been brought. Your words were hollow, but thankfully accepted and not questioned.  


“We understand how upsetting this must all be for you.”

Acting as if they actually understood how you felt, when in reality, they really, really had no idea at all. 

“Here you are.”  


You stared at the keys you had been handed. The keys to your RV. Your home of three plus years was right there in front of you.

”And one more thing. Here.” 

You automatically took the envelope being offered to you.

”There isn’t any need to make a decision right now. When you have time, read it, and call the number there if it’s something you’d like to attend.” 

With a final exchange with the authorities, you were free to leave the area. The woman who’d spoken with you walked away, and then it was just you, standing alone outside the RV’s front doors. You stared down at the envelope in your hand that you’d just been given, absently turning it over and the opening it up despite what the woman had told you.

Scanning the contents today was a mistake, it seemed.

That same sick feeling from rose within you. 

The letter...it was an invitation for you to have final closure in a week’s time, if you wanted it. To go back to the asylum and see the monsters being taken from building to the back of a semi truck, before they were transported to a more secure location.

That offer about did you in, emotions left running high while you lingered in a nearly empty parking lot.  


But you still felt so numb.

No tears formed.

Nothing.

All you did was keep hold of the envelope and letter while you unlocked your RV. A thought came to mind, and, after seeing that you were alone, and the only other people were in a building nearby, you peered underneath the entire RV. There was no tampering, as far as you could tell, but there was still the inside of your home to check as well. 

It was something to do.

Don’t dwell to hard in what happened. 

Not when someone might see you.

With that in mind, you opened the front door and climbed the steps, closing and locking the door behind you. The winter clothes came off one by one, left carelessly in a pile as you kicked your boots off and tossed your scarf aside. This left you in a sweater, jeans and socks.

It was too quiet.

Much too quiet.

You looked around the entryway, at the small kitchen, the coffee table, the couch and the front seats of the RV. The bed in the far back and the bathroom. Being back in your home wasn’t as comforting as you hoped it would be. It didn’t feel the same now. Not without Papyrus and Sans here with you. When you thought of your friends, all you could see were the images of them in those cells, separated from one another.  Locked in windowless rooms, as if to torment them with how they’d been imprisoned underground for such a long time.

You couldn’t shake the sight of Papyrus’ arms still bound behind his back. The thought of him being beaten down, when he grew upset over being separated from his brother. Then there was Sans, heavily chained against, as if the humans expected him to be able to do something violent despite. It didn’t seem to matter to them that there was a magic suppressor around his neck, as well as the fact that he had been unconscious.

The only silver lining in the whole ordeal was the invitation that you’d just received. The one that you had set down on the coffee table. The idea of seeing them being loaded back into the truck to be and whisked away to a presumably fortified place where you wouldn’t be able to reach them...

It hurt so much, the idea of never seeing them again. But for it to not happen for a whole entire week...

That gave you plenty enough time to figure out what you wanted to do about it. To see if, by some miracle, there was something that you could do to help Sans and Papyrus. To stop them from being imprisoned for the rest of their lives.

A week couldn’t pass by quickly enough.

At the very least, after a very thorough search, there were no cameras or listening devices to be found in your home, intruding on your privacy. You stepped over to the kitchen counter and turned the old stereo on as you began to pace back and forth down the length of the RV.

It was time to put on the old thinking cap and try to puzzle your way out of what seemed like an impossible situation.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter will be up later tomorrow. Giving my eyes a rest.


	23. Reckless

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Combined ch 23 & 24\. I realized they both were short and took place close together scene-wise.  
> reader 2nd POV/Sans 3rd POV  
> Additional tags/warnings: talk of imprisoning of a presumed innocent person, monster dusting mention (past), magic tracking device vaguely explained, reckless decisions and actions taken, convenient plot armor protects the reader from said reckless action, moped flying through the air will haunt other humans’ nightmares, RV on 18 wheeler crash likely not properly conveyed by text, nope-ing out of aftermath with a convenient shortcut.

A week-long wait to see Sans and Papyrus was the absolute worse. 

The what-if’s never stopped.

What was happening to them?

Were they just being kept in the cells?

Were the guards hurting them?

It would have been nerve-wracking enough, not knowing what they were going through while you waited. But your nerves were running high because you had to continue to speak with and interact with the police. To make sure that you actually were okay, and without actually outright saying it, making certain that you weren’t going to suddenly sprout a second head or something due to be being ‘abducted’ and being in close contact with a monster magic. Some of the questions were strange. Others, uncomfortably close to the truth, if for different reasons than someone would think.

Did you feel any urge to go back to the monsters? Did the monster compel you in any way? Use magic on you to make you not tell them they did something of the sort? Did the monster tell you something without speaking when you’d seen them in the cell (you knew you’d been right to worry about Papyrus signing to you) and if so, what was said?

The answers you gave to these questions?

No and I don’t know.

As far as anyone was aware, you’d been feeling the truth.

But the questions should have raised a red flag when they became more personal, and less about the monsters, such as family and friends who could help you with your ‘recovery’. From the sympathetic looks when you mentioned you didn’t have anyone, you wouldn’t know until later that you should have just lied and said you had someone waiting for you, somewhere.

But you weren’t thinking clearly, as upset as you still were about what had happened to your friends. The oddly nosy questions wouldn’t make you think anything if it until you were forced to read lie that maybe, bro my honest and lying at the same time wasn’t the best combination.

On the day you were supposed to go back to the abandoned asylum where Sans and Papyrus were, you just so happened, through pure dumb luck, to eavesdrop on an important conversation that just so happened to be about you and your upcoming visit to find ‘closure’.

But not yet.

Your morning was completely worry free, apart from the whole unpleasant situation, and pleasant as you’d lazed about your RV. At least until you admitted to yourself you had to make a brief stop somewhere to get a late breakfast. You’d been eating whatever was left in the RV that Sans had not taken when the two of you had left it before.

It had been a long week, and you had yet to finalize a plan to rescue your monster friends.

As you parked your RV in a lot and walked through the mall to go order a meal prepared at a fast-food place that you picked at random...you had to thank that desire for putting you in the mall at the right place at the right time.

Why?

Because there were two men in another booth when you sat down. They’d paid you no mind, immersed in their conversation, but you sure as hell paid attention when you heard them specifically mention you by name. as you listened, disbelief gave way to anger.

It just figured that you would have learned, upon arrival to the asylum, that the offer you’d received to watch Sans and Papyrus be taken to be locked up elsewhere was not what you expected it to. And all because you’d been struggling to take care of yourself while you’d been so worried about Sans and Papyrus.

As you listened, you barely noticed the small bites of food your were taking. It had crossed your mind that you might not actually be able to see the monsters transported away. But it was more than that now, it seemed, as a new development had apparently happened between yesterday and today.

“Are you serious? They’re letting that person go? The one that a monster abducted a week back?”

”That was the plan.”

”What changed?”

”The higher ups. Apparently, they’d been having the cops talk to this person and what was learned factored into the quick flip of the original plan. Seems like this person in question lives alone in that big old RV. No friends or family, and so-.”

The man was interrupted by an aggravated groan.

”They’re starting that shit up again?”

”Seems like it.” The other man confirmed. “Since the person wouldn’t be missed. There is more interest in finding out what happens, if anything, when a human is in close quarters with a monster. If the magic does anything to them. Stuff like that, since they weren’t getting anything useful out of their questioning.”

”So that other monster dusted? From a few years back?”

”Yeah, took too much magic outta that fish to make that magic tracking device. Still buggy as hell, and apparently only works within certain range.”

A new voice joined the other two, the footfalls heavy and the voice sharp.

”Stop flapping your jaws and get to your stations!”

”Sir!”

“Yes, sir!”

It was easy enough for you to avoid being seen by the three men that walked by as you finished your meal. Then, as calmly as you could, you walked back through the mall to your RV. You hadn’t wanted to be paranoid,but due to unpleasant heckling in the past, you always made sure your vehicle was out of direct line of sight from anywhere you went. It had worked out in the end today, but it made you sad that you still had to watch how you acted around other humans.  


It was getting real old how quickly people turned against someone if they so much as realized a person was sympathetic toward monsters.

Back in the RV, you rested your hands on the wheel, thinking. You were not going to get out of some kind of confrontation, it seemed.

So much for Sans trying to have you not associate with him and Papyrus.

The authorities, or whoever the higher-ups were, clearly didn’t even care that you’d been abducted. They’d just decided to twist things to suit their own needs. It didn’t matter to them whatever trauma you may have gone through while with monsters, if they though it would suit their agenda. You were perfectly fine, since any trauma wasn’t from monsters, but these other people didn’t know it. And that made you furious again that someone would just causally decide to strip your freedom from you, simply because you had been in the company of monsters.

It made you wonder just how many other humans had disappeared over the past ten years, because of association or friendliness toward monsters.

Your hands slipped off the wheel as you stood.

They would not get a chance to make you disappear.

Without hesitation, you made your decision. Before it would have been way too over the top impossible to even consider, but if you were in danger as well...why not give that crazy idea a chance.  


You walked around the RV with purpose. You started by packing your favorite clothes into a bag. You also included the shirt Papyrus had received from Sans-the ‘coolest punny bro’. Once packed, you changed into your ‘roughing it’ outfit. These clothes were ones that you ordinarily used to walk miles when you accidentally miscalculated the RV’s poor gas mileage in the first few months of owning it. Leather jacket over a bullet proof vest, even if it was not part of the usual ‘roughing it’ ensemble. But you felt that you may need it, remembering the bullets wizzing by you.

A past past friend had gifted you the bullet proof vest without a reason, before ghosting you. Maybe they hadn’t left so much as been taken out of the picture, being positive toward monsters and all. You weren’t so sure any longer after what you’d heard in the mall.

Beneath both jacket and vest, you wore a shirt that proclaimed, in stylized text ‘bite me’, along with a neon orange middle finger beneath it. You pulled on a pair of firm fitting pants and then a larger pair of pants from the one time you attempted to ride a motorcycle. Along with that, steel toed boots that laced halfway up to your knees. 

The backpack of clothes went over your shoulders as you tugged gloves over your hands. Then, you reached up to pull down the motorcycle helmet you wore when driving your moped.

Maybe you were overreacting, but you didn’t think so in the moment.

You’d made up your mind what you were going to do. And besides, even if there hadn’t been the idea of being locked up as a prisoner, all you could think about this past week was Sans and Papyrus in those cells. And now, with the idea of you being in a cell alongside them...you would take the crazy idea a go.

Pulling on the helmet firmly, you tugged down the visor, striding purposefully back toward the front of the RV, grabbing a heavy bag of rice as you went. Dropping the bag by the front seat, you sat down and turned the vehicle on, before plugging in the address from the letter. With everything set, you drove off to go rescue Sans and Papyrus.

In a moment of inspiration, you turned on the radio, raising the volume to blast some rock and roll as you hit the highway. The music amped you up as you prepared yourself for what what was to come. Or rather, what was cobbled together as a crazy plan to help rescue your friends from a lifetime of imprisonment, and at some point, dusting.

The drive seemed so much shorter than it actually was, and despite running low on fuel...well, at least you had come to terms with the fact that you weren’t going to need any more fuel in your RV after this.

Money that you put into the RV and your dwindling savings meant nothing when lives were on the line.

Time became short snapshots as you drew closer and closer to your destination.

The asylum was in the distance.

The 18 wheeler was right there in the lot, all set to take your friends away. There smaller shapes were probably cars, and one of them was likely intended to take you away as well.

Joke’s on them.

You wouldn’t be going anywhere quietly.

There was no way the people up ahead could ever have thought someone would do anything like _this_.

Your moped was ready, held temporarily near the front door of the RV with a tied pair of pants. Taking a sharp turn, the RV now faced the asylum in the distance.

You were getting close.

No going back now.

Despite your ‘mobile home’ being, as Papyrus put it, comfortingly slow and steady, you hit the gas as far as it could go, and barreled down the road, closer to the asylum lot now. A smile touched your lips beneath the helmet you wore as people scrambled for get out of the way.

YOLO and all that jazz.

For effect, you honked the horn as you hit the lot, making straight away for the 18 wheeler.  The RV plowed through empty cars that were now abandoned, jostling you as you kept on driving. You reached for the heavy pack of rice to exchange for where your foot was on the gas pedal. It wouldn’t be quite as fast but all you needed was to have the RV keep going forward.  


Looking up, the distance between you and the larger truck was rapidly shrinking. There, near the entrance of the building, you caught sight of Sans and Papyrus. You could all but hear Papyrus’ distress as his teeth parted to yell at you. Sans wore a look of grim amusement after the surprise wore off.

Papyrus all but tackled his brother to the ground, despite his hands cuffed behind his back. The larger monster awkwardly curled over Sans to protect him from any debris.

The only reason that Papyrus was able to do this was because the humans that had been escorting them had abandoned the monsters. No one wanted to be in the way of a large bus slash RV and the humans had all but scrambled away from impending doom.

Shame it didn’t last.

Someone must have gotten their courage back, as the 18 wheeler began to move backward, as if to run over the two monsters huddled on the ground over.

In a split second decision, heedless of your own safety, you swung the RV to line it back up with the truck bearing down on your friends. Aligning the RV to meet the truck’s back end, you hastily exchanged your foot for the rice bag, and then flung yourself to the moped and kicked open the doors.

It must have been quite a sight, to see a 45 foot long RV bearing down on an 18-wheeler, when paired with someone flying out the front doors on a moped decked out in full motorcycle gear.

In a moment of brilliance, you yelled as loudly as you could-

”Witness me!”

-before letting out a very terrified yet exhilarated whoop as the RV came perilously close to the 18 wheeler.

Gotta put space between you and the impending crash.

It was a toss up on just how long you’d remain upright as your moped hit the ground moving. But somehow, despite the shock of hitting the ground, you kept on driving. Never in your life did you ever anticipate doing something so crazy, but hell if you were going to let people lock Papyrus and Sans up just for being monsters. Nor were you going to sit back and let people think, even for a moment, that they’d lock you up as well, just for being around monsters for, in their minds, a week.

There was a jarring crunch of grinding metal as vehicle met vehicle, before there was nothing but screams and shouts. But you only had eyes for the building, where you could see that the debris had missed both monsters.

Sans and Papyrus were unhurt.

You, however, were on a fast track for being flung off your moped as you happened to find the only hill nearby, taking a deep drop down toward a cluster of trees.

Oh, shi-

-x-x-x-

The sound of the RV hitting the larger truck had been disorienting and terrifying enough to send a flare of panic through Sans over Papyrus potentially being crushed by debris.

Nothing happened and yet-

Sans was  teetering on the edge of completely losing himself.  


He’d been getting toward that frame of mind all week, after being separated from his brother in a cell, and chained like some dangerous animal against a wall. People openly staring at the hole in his skull. And today, when he and Papyrus were brought out, someone had gotten it into their head to suggest chaining Sans up again, as a precaution. It had almost been enough to tip him over the edge, but then Sans had caught sight of y/n and their RV.

Surprise overrode the anger, and a grimly pleased smile took its place as Papyrus worriedly shouted to y/n to not wreck their vehicular home or hurt themselves.

Something had happened.

Sans could sense it in y/n’s soul.

A blur of motion and time.

Sans rolled out from beneath his brother, who had shielded him from any potential harm of flying debris. The moment Sans heard y/n’s pained yelp at the same time something metal crunched, he was seeing red.

Was y/n hurt?

Was it another human?

”Brother, be careful, your HP and magic levels...” Papyrus’ jaw snapped shut as he made a good impression of bugged out eyes as Sans broke the chain between his handcuffs with pure brutal force and bared teeth. “Sans!”

Sans only shook his head before he grasped the collar tight, phalanges cracking as a thin trickle of marrow spilled past his teeth. With a snarl, Sans tore the collar off from around his neck and carelessly tossed it aside.

”You could do that this whole time?!” Papyrus’ voice cracked as he struggled to his feet, handcuffs hampering him. “Sans!”

Sans didn’t answer. He only used a blaster to break the chains, allowing his brother free motion of his arms.

”Sans! Please! Do be careful. I mean it! Your magical signature does not feel entirely stable.” Papyrus fretted as he followed after Sans.

The debris of truck and RV kept the humans in the area from getting close to either of the monsters. Not that they weren’t scrambling to reorient themselves from the  unexpected attack.

Sans, after making certain that his brother would be unhindered while following him, turned his attention to the hill. Sans walked off at a brisk pace to go retrieve the crazy human who had just saved them from further imprisonment. Sans slid down the hill with his hands at his sides, his jacket still missing. Sans had sensed the faltering determination within y/n as they drove, but also the resolve. He had known that you’d been planning something crazy just from those feelings in your soul alone.  


If the humans didn’t believe you were associated with them before, you would be now.

Sans grit his teeth against the faint pain he felt within his soul from his use of magic, and the strength required to break metal. But his mind was elsewhere.

Why?

Why did y/n do that?

Didn’t they know that by helping them, by doing what they had just done, that they couldn’t have a normal life now?

No.

Not right now.

Sans could ask y/n later, when they and Papyrus were safe with him somewhere else.

”Y/n! Now is not the time to take up tree climbing!” Papyrus called out as he stomped past Sans and reached up to pluck y/n out of the tree, cradling them carefully in his arms. “It cannot be good for your posture to be lying over the branch like that!”

Y/n responded with a wheeze.

”Come now, y/n, use your words, please.”

Sans couldn’t get a good read on your face, seeing as you were wearing that helmet that hid it, but it was good that you responded with a weak-sounding laugh and a pat to Papyrus’ shoulder.  


“I’ll try to climb at...at a better time.”

Sans’ grin twitched into a relieved one.

Y/n didn’t sound too hurt, only breathless.

It was time to get y/n and his brother out of here.

Luckily for Sans, Justice had a similar plan, because Sans found that he suddenly had a little extra boost of magic. Sans didn’t stop to question how he had access to the judge’s magic right now. Sans only placed a hand on Papyrus’ arm, his other firmly wrapped around y/n’s nearest hand. It didn’t matter to Sans that y/n was already being securely held in Papyrus’ arms.

The chaos left in their wake was satisfying.

Hearing y/n mutter under their breath as Papyrus sunk to the ground in a new location to hug them, only to sprawl on the ground, made Sans smile.

”Holy shit, did you see that?” Y/n clung to one of Papyrus’ arms, lying alongside the larger monster. “It was like one of those action movies! I can’t believe I did that!”

”Yes, indeed we did see that, human.” Papyrus said, tearing up as he grasped one of your hands. “That was very reckless of you. While I appreciate your cunning to cause discord amongst the those humans to ensure our getaway, I...” The tears started to fall. “...I must insist that you do not risk your life like that ever again. It was quite a distressing.”   


”Only if no one tries to lock you up again.” Y/n had started to cry too, the helmet now off.

Sans was smiling a now serene smile as he tucked his hands into his pockets.

Or he would have, if he had any.

”...welp, that was egg-citing.” Sans said, patting his t shirt free of some dirt.

Papyrus’ loud groan rang out in the clearing but then he started to laugh, tears streaming down his cheekbones. Y/n joined him, both crying in earnest as y/n pressed their face against Papyrus’ chest as he gently pat their back. 

The relief was palpable.

“...be right back, bro.” Sans said, taking Papyrus’ hand wave as acknowledgement as he took a short cut. It was supposed to be a quick check in to see what the other humans were up to. But to overhear then talking about the magic tracker to find them...Sans suddenly realized that he couldn’t do this by himself. Sans took out his phone from his inventory, one he had yet to show y/n, and called his brother. 

Papyrus answered promptly on the first ring.

”...paps.” Sans struggled to keep his voice even. “...tell justice to judge these humans. he knows enough. i won’t be able to hold back if it’s just me.” Sans could hear a sad sigh on the other line, before his brother spoke softly but firmly.

”Justice, you are needed for a judgment of the humans who held myself and Sans prisoner against our will. The imprisoned us with intent to cause harm, both bodily and mental. They also had plans to take y/n prisoner for being around monsters, as stated by y/n themselves to me moments ago-“

Sans gladly embraced the darkness that washed over him, no longer hearing what Papyrus was saying.

It was fine.

When he came back to himself, Sans knew he would find Papyrus and y/n safe. And then, then they’d follow the clues. No more would Sans or Papyrus drag their feet, hoping for change to a world that would never come to pass. It was time for them to leave this universe behind for good, it seemed, following in the footsteps of monsters who had already left before them. Sans may not be as good at puzzling things out anymore, but he was certain Papyrus was up to the task.

Maybe y/n...would like to go with him and Paps when the machine was finally located?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *highway to hell/welcome to the jungle/etc. fills the RV* 
> 
> The whole scene toward the end with the RV, 18-wheeler, and moped was already ridiculously over the top unrealistic for an actual person to go through, so why not have some fun and slip in a two word line from Mad max fury road?
> 
> Gonna take a bit of a break now. Probably at least until next weekend or so. But then it’s judgment time, and going on the hunt for clues.


	24. Judgment

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Justice & Sans 3rd pov  
> Additional tags/warnings: magic violence, injuries caused by magic, off screen minor character deaths (judgements aren’t too pretty when there’s so many sins going down someone’s back). Lil bit of fluff at the end.

Papyrus had called upon him for an official judgment.

There was no question about it this time.

Justice inspected the device in his hand for a moment before putting it into his inventory. Perhaps, when there was less danger, he could better see how the speaking device worked to communicate with Papyrus. But for right now, Justice’s magic was settling heavily in the air around him.

There were many who were guilty before his sight, waiting to be judged.

Papyrus had not demanded Justice’s presence but requested it, as Papyrus had said he would back in the dark of that truck.

Whenever that had been.

Papyrus held his promise, and Justice would follow through with the request, no questions asked.

Keeping his magic tamped down so as to not draw attention to himself, Justice swept his pale eye light over the gathered humans milling about. Numbers filtered back to him, the multitude of sins laid bare before him. There were those who had done no wrong mixed in with the guilty, and appeared to be there for their own safety, their own fear palpable. It was going to take some time for Justice to go through all of the humans one on one, but he had magic to spare, and monsters as well as a single human to protect.

It was easy, however, for him to separate the humans as he saw fit.

If one didn’t hear him, they didn’t see him until it wears too late as they were yanked into a confrontation.

The humans who had little to no sins to their actions were skittish if a monster looming within the forest around him. But Justice merely calmly tailed them until he was able to corner them one by one. The fear those particular humans held when Justice dragged them into an encounter was ignored, as he focused on closely observing the soul he brought before him to judge. Many humans were left in the forest after an encounter with Justice that day, in fetal position and in tears while overwhelmed by seeing the culmination of their being and any sins that may have been crawling down their backs.

To being seen so deeply, judged over their actions both past and present...it was a lot to take in for anyone. Especially when one was judged by the cold, indifferent eye of a monster who saw all that they were, only to be left alive as the same monster moved on.

Others were not so lucky.

Justice did not let personal bias toward the humans affect his judgements. It would do a king or queen no good to have a judge who made decisions based on their feelings. Which was why Justice insisted that Papyrus be thorough while requesting a judgement. To ensure it be fair to all, with no room for personal bias, whether it be human or monster.

The humans who had sins crawling down their back before Justice even brought them into a confrontation for an actual judgement made his bones rattle softly. Of all the judgements he had made, it was disconcerting to feel echoes of that child from the underground, who killed monsters indiscriminately before he stopped them.

Over and over again.

But those memories were a little hazy. At the time, Justice and Sans were one monster, but after the separation of the judge’s magic...Justice found it difficult to recall just how many times he’d judged the same child. 

But that indifference of theirs. The curiosity to see what made him tick during battle. No remorse given when he failed.

Justice could feel a similar hate and fear from the humans who attacked him when they saw him, even while he had them within a confrontation. He pushed away any feelings he might have had when words were spoken that ought to have upset him to hear. Justice heard but didn’t listen.

The clarity of judgment came first.

There was no room for any emotion.

Always.

Justice had no qualms about corralling the humans whose sins were so terrible. They were trying to escape the punishment that followed, so really, Justice was being efficient by getting those humans together in one place. When they hesitated, Justice used a high amount of magic to blast a huge crater into the ground in front of the building. He felt nothing when he skewered the humans with bone constructs and let them fall into the large crater he’d just created. Justice only watched, waiting long enough to ensure that the KR would burn the humans HP down to almost nothing. 

No LV would be gained.

The humans would expire from their injuries down in the rubble that filled the crater, or they would be exceedingly lucky if other humans came and saved them.

Unlikely but possible.

Justice calmly walked past all of the damage he had caused, past humans sobbing into the ground from what they’d seen during their judgement. Justice felt his magic finally begin to settle, and the invisible hand on the back of his cervical vertebrae urging the judgments on dissipated.

It was done.

Justice had no obligation to remain in this place any longer. Before he could leave, however, he happened to sense something unpleasant. A prickling against his skull all the way down his body, setting his magic on edge again.

What was it?

Who was it?

This feeling was...contradictory. There was sense of both a monster soul, and something artificial.

Unliving.

Justice waked back over to the edge of the crater he had made, and crouched down, a single phalange reaching out to prod a rectangular device on the ground. It was different than the one he had used to speak with Papyrus. 

The brief touch caused an unpleasant buzzing sensation across the tip of his phalange.

Without a second thought, Justice rammed a conjured rib bone with his other hand, right into the middle of the device. It spat out sparks and then, the uncomfortable sensation stopped all at once.

Curious.

It seemed important somehow. Justice could now sense the faintest trace of monster magic within the device. He would not leave something like that out in the open. Carefully, Justice picked it up and placed it in his inventory in an open slot. Sans might be able to figure out what it was more than he could, as unfamiliar with technology as Justice was as the judge.

With no humans around in the immediate vicinity, Justice let his gathered magic dissipate. No need to use it if there was no one around that required him to shortcut out of danger. He sat down on the grass and leaned against a tree and retrieved the battered notebook from out of his inventory. Time crawled by as Justice spent some time writing observations and notes, stopping occasionally to listen to the nature around him. While he had been judging the humans, Justice had heard no sign of wildlife.

It made sense.

Most living beings did not like to be in the presence of the judge.

Justice did not take it personally, considering he didn’t usually remain around long enough to really think upon such things. It was odd, to be aware of oneself, with the judge’s magic separate from Sans’.

Finishing his notes about the human souls he had judged and what he had seen in them, Justice made one final note. He urged Sans and Papyrus to look for a way to get to another universe as soon as possible. To use the clue they’d found to try to find a way through less traveled paths. Justice didn’t want to think what would happen if they were to be captured again. Satisfied with his writing, Justice stored the notebook and called on enough magic to use a shortcut to rejoin Papyrus and y/n.

Moving from one place to another in an instant felt unnatural, but as he was Sans, it was something Justice could do without questioning the how. The void he knew of, but only in this most recent time of awareness. It was unpleasant to be there, in the void, even for that brief moment. It was the absence of everything and nothing, and the odd, faint presence of a monster there, and yet not.

Confusing, is what it was.

A conundrum for another time.

With the official judgment over with, Justice would only remain long enough to ensure he and Papyrus, along with y/n, were safe in this area, away from other humans. Justice did not think that the humans he’d spared would be able to follow them to this forested area on the other side of the mountain so easily. Lying low and out of sight in the wilderness would serve them well for the time being. The thought to encourage continuing on from this place was quashed when Justice saw Papyrus and y/n waiting in the clearing for him. Both monster and human appeared immensely relieved when they caught sight of him.

It appeared that some time for recuperating was in order before anyone was in the right state of mind to go on a clue hunt to find their way to freedom.

“The judgement is complete.” Justice informed Papyrus calmly. At the quiet acknowledgment, far quieter than Justice remembered Papyrus being, Justice let himself fall away. He would be near at all times, if Papyrus had a need to call on him, if any human was foolish enough to come after them again. Before the darkness brought peace and silence, Justice wondered about whether or not it was possible that he, the judge, was developing his own set of feelings.

Even if that was the case, it was reassuring to Justice to know that he could judge impartially, so long as he had someone to request a judgement of him.

-x-x-x-

The first thing Sans is aware of was the warmth of someone pressed tight against him. It was familiar yet unfamiliar, as he wasn’t initiating the touch. Sans didn’t outwardly react, until he realized that the warmth against him had wrapped their arms around him right beneath his ribs.

Who was it?

“Is that you now, brother?”

Papyrus.

Papyrus was there, and he didn’t seem concerned.

Sans clenched his hands at his side and breathed through his nasal cavity. Inwardly, Sans knew that Justice wouldn’t have left him anywhere dangerous. Sans could sense Papyrus close by, which meant the one holding him in a tight hug was...y/n. Sans’ eye light flickered, changing between large and small before settling on filling his socket entirely as Sans slowly unclenched his hands.

Y/n...was hugging him.

Willingly.

It wasn’t Sans initiating a hug for warmth or to offer protection.

This was...different.

Sans didn’t know what to do, so he just stood there with his arms outstretched with y/n hugging him around the middle. Sans helplessly looked around for Papyrus, and when he met his brother’s gaze, Sans gestured at y/n with the jerk of his skull.

Helpful brother that he was, Papyrus winked one of his small sockets while also stating it aloud as well.

”Wink.”

”...paps...” Sans mumbled, sighing when his brother pantomimed hugging in answer. Sans’ hands hovered for a moment over y/n’s back. They still hadn’t let go of him. Sans hesitated a moment longer before he settled his arms around y/n’s back in a cautious hug, drawing an approving smile from Papyrus.

“Are you okay?” 

Oh, Sans hadn’t noticed that y/n had been speaking to him, their voice muffled against his shirt. He had been distracted by the fact that he was being hugged, paired with the immense relief of knowing that his brother and y/n were both safe.

”Sans?”

”...m’fine.” Sans murmured in return, and gave in to the overwhelming need to nuzzle his cheekbone against the top of y/n’s head against their hair.

Safe.

All three of them were safe.

Sans stood there for a long time, holding y/n close.

Papyrus started to pointedly, if quietly, make ‘ahem’s’ in the background, only to be ignored by his brother, who was quite happily wrapped up in his current quest to nuzzle his way through all of y/n’s hair, making them snicker and attempt to ‘fend’ him off.

”Sigh.” Papyrus sighed, even if he smiled over the way Sans’ grin had tugged up into a soft, genuine smile.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sans.exe has stopped functioning. Must process.  
> Nuzzling activated. 
> 
> Expect another chapter this weekend. I was having fun typing now that the worst has happened and have now gotten past it. Time for increased fluff and a search for a way to another universe. (Next chapter does have everything sink in for everyone, so there will be some tears but more tears of relief that the bad situation is no longer a problem).


	25. Reprieve

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Have some fluff and feels.

Sans had come back, and that was a relief. 

You couldn’t believe he’d left you and Papyrus in the first place, until you overheard Papyrus speaking to Sans on the phone. Or rather, communicating with Justice, as the large monster had been talking about judgements.

It was a tense time, waiting for Sans to return.

Papyrus lie on the grass, motionless apart from a few fidgets here and there.

For your part, you sat alongside Papyrus, but he seemed to like you nearby. At least it appeared that way, since he almost reached out to stop you from standing up. Papyrus then jerked his hand away, and shakily clasped both of them on his chest, the monster twitching now and again.

You didn’t move from the spot.

It took entirely too long for Sans to return, even when it couldn’t have been more than an hour. When he did, you could see that it was still Justice, for the moment, as he told Papyrus the judgement was completed. He looked your way then, the white eye light on you for a time before he blinked, and the red eye light slowly came into focus. You were already on your feet and moving before Sans could even get his bearings. Wrapping your arms around Sans in a hug, you buried your face against his chest. Well, from the feel of it, his sternum. Sans’ bones more prominent when he was only wearing a shirt.

Maybe you said something, maybe you imagined it, but once Sans got over his surprise, he wrapped his arms around you in return, nuzzling your hair. The two of you stood there holding one another a bit longer than either of you might have before, without needing to try and stay warm in a cavern.

Sans and Papyrus were safe.

That was such a relief.

Sans increased his rather affectionate nuzzling.

You playfully fended Sans off until he caught your arms and dragged you closer. His ribcage was reverberating and you realized that Sans was purring the longer he held you. He’d even begun to brush his phalanges gently along your back as he rested his skull on top of your head. The reverberation grew deeper, and it was reminiscent of the first night you drifted off to the sound of purring.

The moment might have lasted for much longer had Papyrus not loudly and pointedly cleared his nonexistent throat. The noise drew Sans out of his relaxed stupor. He backed away from you and stared at you for a time, his red eye light soft and hazy.

You were pretty certain that you were blushing by this point, as you realized just how closely you and Sans had been standing to one another.

“I do not mean to interrupt your affectionate bonding moment, but I do need an opinion from you, brother.” Papyrus gestured to the collar still around his neck. “This metal collar is very uncomfortable around my vertebrae, so I’d like to know how difficult it might be to remove from my person. And I do not want you to attempt to remove it. I’m sure you used quite worn out from _tearing it off_ while unable to access your magic.”

“...lemme take a look, bro.” Sans either ignored or was oblivious to the scolding in Papyrus’ tone. Sans met your eyes for a second, before he shuffled over to Papyrus, who stooped so that his brother could get a better look at the collar. After a few taps around the collar and a low hum, Sans stepped back. “...you can take it off yourself. magic isn’t restrained by it any more. the block is gone.”

”Oh, well, if that’s the case-“

You watched in amazement as Papyrus closed his fingers around the collar, seemingly testing it, before he tore the metal apart with his bare hands.

Wow.

Both Sans and Papyrus were strong, even without using their magic.

Papyrus held the broke metal collar in his hands for a moment, before he dropped it on the ground. His fingers were trembling as he hugged himself, staring at nothing in particular.

“...paps?” Sans’ serene grin flattened, eye light roving over Papyrus as if looking for an injury.

“I will be all right, brother.”

Your heart leapt in surprise as Papyrus was suddenly right in your face, looming over you as he firmly grasped your hands in his own.

And proceeded to scold you too. 

”Y/n! That was a very dangerous and reckless thing to do! What if you’d harmed yourself by not getting out of your moving mobile home in time?” Papyrus let go of your hands and leaned over to press his skull to your shoulder, sniffling. “Thank you for coming back for me and my brother. I appreciate your actions even if those actions were very hazardous to your own health. I would very much like to give you a completely platonic hug of relief if not for the fact that I might hold you too tightly at present. I believe Sans wouldn’t like if I accidentally squished you.”

”I can give you a hug?” You suggested, alarmed when Papyrus ended up on the ground on his knees, his large frame trembling softly as you heard a soft whimper.

”Please.”

You wrapped your arms just beneath Papyrus’ still crossed arms as he leaned his skull snugly against your shoulder.

Papyrus promptly burst into tears, his arms tightening across his chest.

You gently pat one of Papyrus’ scapula through his tattered shirt as his bones rattled together loudly. You glanced at Sans, who had come up alongside his brother to stare at the two of you.

Sans watched quietly for a moment, his red eye light wavering until the black pupil-like dot fixed on you. 

You didn’t know what to say.

This didn’t seem quite real yet.

That all of your were actually safe.

Papyrus reached out with a low sob to cling to his brother’s nearest arm, giving him an insistent tug.

Sans’ smile was that neutral one but his eye light seemed less intense as he allowed his brother to hold him. From Sans’ faint flinch, it was a bone-crushing hold that only let up when Papyrus felt the flinch. 

”I was scared.” Papyrus murmured into the silence, his tears catching on your shoulder. His bones were rattling softly now. “I thought we were going to be...be-“ Papyrus trailed off with a whimper and sagged against you and his brother.

Sans discreetly held his brother’s weight off of you by leaning in close to your side. You noticed that Sans’ bones were rattling softly too.

The three of you remained huddled on the ground like that for an untold amount of time. And in that time, you were struck hard by what you had done, sucking in a harsh breath and letting it out, quivering.

That had been insane.

What were you even thinking?

You could have died.

Had you not gotten out of the RV on time, if you hadn’t hit the ground on the moped just right, or if you had hit one of the trees head on instead of hitting a bump and being flung through the air to end up sprawled over a tree branch. You’d done it to save your friends, but even so...

Oh.

You were crying now.

When had that started up?

Soft murmurs went over your head but you were there enough to realize that Papyrus has extracted himself from your hug in order to let Sans hold you in his arms. Sans sat down and coaxed you onto his lap, before he hugged you to his chest.

The tears wouldn’t stop.

The adrenaline from before must have finally worn off. 

Sans resumed nuzzling you while humming something nonsensical against the side of your neck now and again. It took awhile for you and Papyrus to calm down enough to think about finding some shelter for the night. 

“...need to find a place to lie low.” Sans murmured against the top of your head. “...don’t know what the situation is until I read what justice wrote in the notebook after the judgements.”

“Then we should go find some shelter before dark. On a few hours, from the look of the sky.” Papyrus said.

You let out a gasp and clung to Sans as Papyrus lifted his brother into his arms, which meant you were being lifted up too, simply by having Sans’ arms wrapped around you snugly. With his arms beneath Sans’ femurs and behind his back, Papyrus set off through the surrounding trees at a brisk pace.

“...can walk, paps.” Sans sighed, even though you felt the way he went, well, boneless in his brother’s arms.

”Nonsense. Neither of you are hindering me in any way and this way, we can move more quickly. My legs are much longer than either of yours are, and my workout routines have me in tiptop condition!”

You settled you head on Sans’ shoulder, and a faint stroke of fingers down your back let you know Sans was very much fine with the walking situation, if his inertness wasn’t enough of a clue.

”...your vehicle didn’t make it.” Sans said after a few quiet hours had passed by.

“I didn’t think it would.” You were sad about the RV’s demise but not surprised. You had not expected the RV to survive ploughing through all of those cars and into an 18 wheeler.

Sans had begun to pet your arm absently, loosening the snug hug he held you in.

You were still on his lap.

This was a-okay with you, because you weren’t certain you’d trust yourself to walk right now.

“Your mobile home is not salvageable?” Papyrus stopped mid-step, his tone distraught.

“I made a decision. I knew what would happen.” You reached out to pat Papyrus on his arm reassuringly. “You and Sans are more important. I can always find another home, even if it is not as nice as the RV. But I couldn’t replace the two of you.”

It seemed like it was time for an early break in walking as Papyrus sunk down to the ground, still holding both you and Sans in his arms. His small sockets were reared up as Papyrus awkwardly pressed his brow-bone to your upper back, his large frame hunched over you and Sans.

“Y/n!” Papyrus began to cry in earnest again, choking out his words through the tears. “It’s so wonderful to have such a good friend!”

Sans gently took one of your hands into his own, unbeknownst to his brother.

You looked up at him from where you were still seated on his lap. Sans wasn’t looking at you, his skull angled up with the back of it resting against his brother’s shoulder.

Sans’ hand gave yours a gentle squeeze, his smile soft and relaxed. Sans quietly laced his fingers together with yours, bone against skin, as he stared up through the tree line to the starry sky above. 


End file.
